Newest Family Member

This is Jim's new car "Rusty." She ain't perty but she runs good!

I killed Jim's other car waaaaaayyy back in June. We have been sharing rides, and running our household with one vehicle ever since. As much as I didn't mind sharing rides etc, I am happy to have Rusty with us. We have been having a giant question over what to do about a second vehicle. With #7 coming this winter, we know that we are going to have to buy a bigger van, but we have not found one that we like, or that we can afford. I really hated the idea that if I took the van somewhere, Jim was here with no vehicle. With our other kids being over at Carbondale at school, I really hated the idea that he had no way to go pick them up if something happened. That's when our local mechanic offered to trade our old car and a few dollars for this rustbucket. Let's just say that no payments will be made on Rusty! Jim and the boys have big plans of painting her purple. I figure that we will still have to buy the bigger van, but the girls are a few months away from being able to get a learner's permit (no, I can't believe it either) and this is just the kind of car that I want them to start out driving...that way when they back into the mailbox, I don't have to cry!

Fall must be here...

Colin played his first football game last night (actually a scrimmage). They let the youth team play after the high school's annual scrimmage. The jr. high also played, so it was a whole night of football. Colin played quarterback on offense and was on the line on defense. He did really well, and made a lot of great plays, so it was pretty exciting to watch.

We signed Cameron up to play flag football this week. We have enjoyed the Carbondale Rec program for a few years now, the games are played on Sunday afternoons, so it is usually nice weather and lots of fun!

The girls are not playing any fall sports this year, it is the first year in a long time when they aren't playing volleyball. I have to admit that I enjoy volleyball, and am kind of sad that they decided not to play, but on the other hand it is nice to have the extra time!

We're drying ---YEAH!!

It might not seem all that exciting of a thing to post about, but the service locator sent me a dryer repairman today!!! I now have freshly dried clothes and towels that do not feel like cardboard (yeah for Downy fabric softner!!).
The stupid part of this story really is that I just have a dryer that is too fancy for my sad, redneck use! Apparently, if the dryer's mesh lent trap gets too clogged up, there is a safetly switch that turns itself off and won't allow it to heat, apparently so that you don't burn down your house! Although I am pretty religious about cleaning out the lent trap, I should have been running the thing through my dishwasher once a month or so. Who knew?

Quincy's off

Quincy got up out of bed and announced "I ain't going to Mr. Becky's preschool today" then proceeded to fight me while I dressed her and combed her hair. When I went to brush my teeth so we could leave, she took off her shoes and socks and was attempting to take off her shirt. UUG! I thought for sure that she was going to give me a terrible, guilty morning when I dropped her off. However, Preston started talking to her. It was very sweet, he told her about the playground with the twirly slide and the painting that he got to do on an easel, and the yummy chocolate milk. Somehow by the time I took her over, she was excited again and she went willingly! I hope the rest of her first day at preschool is wonderful! I also hope that this group of 3 year olds doesn't cause the Jumpstart preschool to close permanently!!

Preschool update

Preston's first day was great! He got to paint, play in the sand table, and he made some new friends (although he can't exactly remember their names). He also got a banana for a snack and Miss Becky gave him CHOCOLATE milk!

Quincy announced today that she is NOT going to MR. Becky's preschool - she wants to stay at work with mom. Tomorrow morning could be interesting! We might have to do the old distract her and mom runs out the door trick. Actually, she has been looking forward to this all summer, so I am not sure why the cold feet now! Quincy was also extremely upset today when we drove by the city pool and they were draining the water out with a large pump. I tried to explain that summer was over - but my goodness she was miffed! That is HER city pool and she wasn't done swimming in it!

One more thing, I have always had this little fantasy about homeschooling our kids. I always thought it would be very relaxing and wonderful with a kind of free from schedule feeling. I was so very wrong! I am not going to lie, I am totally enjoying it, but it is a ton of work getting prepared, making sure we are covering all the materials, and trying to stay ahead so that Cameron is not bored. I am going to have to learn to be a lot more organized for sure! I had my first conference with Cameron's virtual school teacher today. I had totally missed a couple of things that he was supposed to do (luckily it is Ms. Alison's job to keep me on track!). I felt that we had been doing really well though, and am a bit disappointed in myself for not realizing these things! So far Cam seems to be enjoying it, and hasn't given me any grief about doing the work, or been distracted by other things (tv, playstation etc) in the house.

The other kids seem to be settling in to a schedule as well. Mallory and Madison have the normal teenaged things to say about certain teachers, which we kind of giggle about. Colin announced today that his teacher has given more homework in the first 3 days of school than he has ever had in his life! Right now he is very motivated to get it done because he is enjoying playing football so much! We are also getting ready to start flag football season with Cameron. I enjoy football season - cooler weather, hot chocolate at games, and I actually understand football rules for the most part!

I also finally got some medication for the ick that I have had for the past 2 weeks. I tried to wait and take just tylenol and be the good pregnant woman, but I finally got so run down from not sleeping that I called and begged my doctor for drugs. I have a nasty sinus infection, and I am hoping that the meds work quickly!

Preston's first day

Today is Preston's first day back at Jumpstart preschool. This is a private preschool through the local Methodist Church and we absolutely loved it last year! Preston was so excited to go back! He started telling me (firmly) at 7:30 it was time to go- even though his school doesn't start until 8:30. It was a long hour wait! I hope his first day back is great!

Weekend Update

Yesterday, Uncle Jay came up from Kentucky to go with Jim, Colin and Cameron to KSU fan appreciation night. The boys (the 43 year old included) got to meet Bill Snyder and he signed their hats. Cameron now thinks that his hat is worth at least $1000. He was a little bit indignant with me when I made him take it off before mass this morning. I am not sure that our new parish priest holds Bill Snyder in the same high regard as my boys do! The boys have always spent a day at the KSU spring game - its tradition - now I see that they will add another tradition to the mix! They had a great time, brought home tons of KSU stuff, and tons and tons of autographs. The only thing is that next time I am pretty sure they aren't going to get away with leaving Preston at home!

The girls and I had a veg in front of the tv night - watching chick flicks with no interruptions from the men! It was a great night for everyone!

We managed to get family photos taken yesterday as well. Our church has decided to put together a new parish directory. The last time they did this I was pregnant with Quincy. This means that we once again have a family photo which will need to be updated in only a few months! Oh well, the opportunity was too good to pass up!

Last weekend was the first weekend with our new priest. So far, I really like him. He seems to be a very nice, young and holy man. I was especially excited when he announced this morning that he wanted to move our mass time back 1/2 an hour. This means more sleep on Sunday mornings! Or more time to wrangle the troops out the door! Whichever!

I spent today trying to catch up. Home school means that I have to plan ahead, something that is going to be a struggle for me because I am the eternal procrastinator! So far, I am loving it though, it is so cool to spend the time with my boy learning things, and then applying them to life. I am sure that this time is one that I will always cherish! I am also trying to catch up on laundry, and am thankful that there was no rain this weekend to interfere with my Little House on the Prairie clothes drying! I am proudly almost caught up!

You live where???

I mentioned that my dryer broke a couple of weeks ago. About 18 months ago, I forced Jim to buy me those new huge washer/dryers where you can wash giant loads of clothes and dry them in the same amount of time as you can wash them. I have been absolutely delighted with this purchase, until the dryer quit drying my laundry. The local repairman came out this week, he took about 20 minutes to look the dryer over and then he ran screaming out the front door (kidding). He went right to Jim's office and told Jim that he could possibly fix the dryer, but he might make it much worse in the process. Jim told him thanks, but please don't touch my wife's dryer! So I called up Lowe's where I bought the dryer from in the first place (and they delivered it to me). Yes, they can service my dryer - what is my zip code. I tell them and the lady asks me "is that a NEW zipcode?" I explained that I have had this zip for pretty much my entire 36 year life - she is floored. Overbrook is not in our computer system. Where are you located? So I explain that we are only 30 minutes from Topeka. She then tells me since I am not in her computer she will have to turn me over to a service locator. UUUUGGGGG! This is weeks with no dryer! At least it was nice today so I got a lot of loads hung outside and dry. The problem is that even though it has been hot, it is so humid that nothing gets quite dry outside, the waistbands are damp, the thick towels are not quite dry...and if they are dry, they are a bit like drying off on cardboard! I am keeping my fingers crossed that this service locator works quickly! Otherwise I am going to resort to something ugly! We might have to move to a location that exists in Lowe's computer system!

First day updated

I just wanted to add a little something at the end of the first day. Mallory and Madison had a great day, they had been a little worried because Carbondale has a much bigger building than what they had last year, and they were scared of being lost, or not finding their classes on time. They report that the building is not as big or bad as it seemed, and that they had no trouble. Colin knew exactly where he was supposed to go since they had an open house earlier this week. He had a great day and says that he has some pretty funny boys in his class. Cameron did fantastic today as well. I am so excited to report about all we are learning! Today we learned about ecosystems, and then went into the yard to look for some. It was neat to see Cam apply what we had been talking about. He said that he loves his new school - and is especially happy with his gym teacher Mr. Woodcock (Jim).

The new system that our district implemented means really early mornings- going in 1/2 hour earlier than last year, and the kids got home tonight 40 minutes later than they did last year. It will definitely take some adjustments on all of our parts. I am happy with the decision that we have made, and I am sure that we will be able to survive!

First Day of School

We started Cameron's Virtual Homeschool work this morning. I was impressed with how hard he worked and how quickly he got his lessons in. I am bringing him to work with me and he will do his workbook pages, reading, and study his spelling and then we will cover the subjects that need a little more attention in the afternoons. For today, he is finished with grammar, spelling, writing and reading and it is only 10:40. We will tackle math, spanish, and science this afternoon, as well as getting him some homemade PE time. He is excited by the program so far, and I have to say that between the training that we went to this week and seeing the curriculum and working with it, I am completely blown away and excited about this year!

Madison, Colin and Mallory were up early and on a bus to Carbondale for their first day of school. I still don't have much nice to say about the school situation, so for now I will just say that I hope their first day is great and that they learn a lot this year!

Playing

We spent Monday with Jim's sister and neice who were visiting from Virginia. We had a fun time at a couple of parks and Well's Overlook Tower.

As Promised

I don't want you to sell my piggie!

Here are some photos of the kids showing/selling pigs and a few others of the county fair.

Fair is over!!!

I promise to post photos tomorrow - I just wanted to post a quick update to say that the fair is over, the hogs are sold, and Quincy keeps telling everyone who will listen that the pigs went to Heaven (sad). Mallory, Madison and Cameron all got blue ribbons on their pigs, Colin had the champion cross-bred hog. Cameron won 2nd place in the rate of gain contest - with his pig gaining 2.66 pounds per day - he lost first place by a 10th of a pound per day. The foods, posters, and flowers did well also, and Mallory and Colin both baked cookies which qualify to go to the state fair.

We spent yesterday trying to catch up on laundry, and house cleaning - my house was a total disaster after running in and out for the week...the laundry was not so easy to catch up on since it has been raining and our dryer broke. We have been drying things on makeshift clotheslines and on the backs of chairs. We have the local repair guy coming tomorrow...he and his wife were running the concession stand at the fair, so he had no time last week!

We spent today with Jim's sister who has been visiting from Virgina. We attempted to go to the KU Natural History Museum, only to find that because of the economy, they have started being closed on Mondays. We then trecked across Lawrence to go to the Prairie Park Nature Preserve only to find that they are also closed on Monday. The kids had a fun time playing at the park and going to Wells Overlook Tower. Photos to come!

a busy but fun weekend

We started out our Saturday bright and early at the fairground clean up. I think the fair grounds are officially ready for the fair to begin on Wednesday evening now! The kids worked really hard and we got a lot accomplished in a pretty short amount of time. Cameron saved the day by rescuing the ladies cleaning the concession stand from a killer tree frog.

After cleaning the fairgrounds, and Colin getting home from his first football practice, Jim and the boys were off to help Jim's parents unpack a van of office equipment, while the girls and I put 26 quarts of zucchini in the freezer.

My uncle recently got re-married, and he and his new wife hosted a nice family party today. Quincy and Preston had fun playing with their cousins!

Madison with "Sarah Piglin"

Mallory shaving "Katy Piggy"

Cam learning to clip up "Dr. Pigram"

Colin watching as "Jenius" let Brian fix up his ears

We spent our evening with our friend Brian helping the kids shave their pigs. They all look much younger and their muscle tone looks much more distinguished now! The kids did a pretty good job of trimming their own hogs this year...with very little help other than on the ears- we had to noose their noses to accomplish this task other than on the very friendly Jenius, who laid very still and let us trim all around his face and ears! Thank you to our friends Brain and Julie, who took this evening to help us out even though they are going to the hospital to have a baby tomorrow (I am sure you probably had other things to do tonight -so we really appreciate your help!)

Thursday

Because I wanted to teach our children about 'real' farm animals, we went to the Douglas County fair this week to watch my nephew show his Holstein heifers. We had a lot of fun, and enjoyed seeing a lot of people from when I was a kid showing in Douglas County!

A friend of ours gave us a bag of hand-me-down clothes this week. Preston was very excited with this Power Ranger costume that was in there. He has been wearing it for 3 days now - I did make him briefly take it off so we could wash it. I am not sure it got dry before he had it back on again!

Madison purchased herself a pair of sunglasses from walmart online. Once they were delivered she decided that they made her look too much like a giant fly, so they quickly became Quincy's newest fashion accessory.

This is Jenius, Colin's hilarious pig. He is not too proud to follow a bucket of feed anywhere you want to take him with it. He probably needs to go pick up some dignity! The pigs are getting close to that show/sale time. We have mixed feelings....on one hand we will be sad to see them go, they are feeling like old friends by now, on the other hand, the bigger they get the more they poo!

week in review

I didn't get any posting done this week, so now I think I will have to review the week and post the photos in one big post. The weather has been pretty cool, and Colin couldn't swim because of the stitches, so we spent some time at the city park. We also spent some time walking the very grumpy pigs. Colin's pig seems to suffer the most from the diet he is on, and now will pathetically follow a feed bucket anywhere you want to lead him with it. I will try to get pictures of this because it is pretty funny.

Highlights of the week:

*Colin got his stitches out on Friday.

*Quincy had a little bout of the flu on Saturday, but seems much better today.

*We managed to pick up Colin's new glasses, and they seem to be holding up so far!

*I got all the enrollment papers for Preston and Quincy's preschool, and for Mallory, Madison and Colin's school and am chin deep in getting them all filled out. We have enrollment for the older 3 kids on Tuesday.

*Colin started his "free" trumpet lessons that came with the trumpet we purchased earlier this summer.

*Jim lived through cooking hotdogs for every kid in Overbrook who played ball, or was on the swim team. (He really did enjoy this).

*I lived through another board meeting at work - and even managed to not die or boredom!

*Jim took Colin and Cameron fishing. They caught a ton of fish, but didn't bring any home (which is fine because nobody here eats fish). They did manage to catch a snake, and they did indeed bring it home to show us. (Scared the heck out of Quincy). Jim swears that he was reeling in a fish and this snake struck at the fish and tried to eat it...he says it was just like something off the National Geographic channel. I have no idea how the snake ended up with a hook stuck in its side...some things I just don't ask!

*I was a Eucharistic minister at church this morning, when I got to church I realized that because of the little fishing trip, the steering wheel in my van had made my hands smell like fish bait and fish. Luckily I noticed before mass started so I was able to wash up before worship! Next time I must remember to Lysol wipe down the van when they get home!!

*We are getting ready for the fair next week. (Starts on the 12th). We are knee deep in posters, recipes, and other fair stuff. I am excited about the county fair, I love this time of the year!