Off To School 2010

The photos are a little out of order, but I am still in shock over sending my babies off to high school! The girls - my babies - high school 'freshmeat' - Jim and I are standing here scratching our heads wondering how they got so old!

Colin starts Jr. High today. He was pretty excited. Cam starts 5th grade at a new school this year (in Carbondale) - he was beyond pumped!

And Preston started Kindergarten! He was the only one who would humor me with photos at the school! I told the others if they didn't stand in front of the house I would follow their buses and take photos of them in their classrooms - that bought me about 2 seconds to take a couple of photos of all of them together!

I hadn't been at work for 5 minutes when Quincy asked me if it was time to go pick up Preston yet! I am thinking she will be really missing him by 3:40!

Introducing "Mary Ann"

Madison and Mallory pooled their pig auction money to buy a new car!!!!

Yeah, I haven't digested that one yet either!

The car is a 1978 Mercedes, bluish, rusty and made of good old fashioned metal, so we are thinking sturdy! The guy who sold it to them said he loved the car, and aside from a little rust, the car is pristine! They already bought an air freshener, hung mardi gras beads, and other various decorations in it, and named her Mary Ann. They spent the whole evening sitting in it. The scene made me laugh a little, and smile a lot! They have also been told they will NOT be driving every day of their freshman year! They now officially own a nicer car than their dad!
The funniest part to me is that Mallory still doesn't have her learner's permit, and Madison doesn't exactly know how to park, so we have a way to go!

Thanks to grandma and grandpa and to Brian and Julie for all their help with the pigs, without your support Mary Ann could not have become a member of the family!

Family

My grandma Shirley. The family had a clean up day at her house today, her yard now looks beautiful! (Not that it didn't before). The work of many hands made for quick work, I went to church and by the time I got there they were finished and playing kick ball.

Since most of the family was there today, we decided to line up my grandma's great grandchildren for a photo. One was NOT happy about it! There are 3 missing and 3 more to be added shortly. What a blessing to have cousins to grow up with!

Wannabe Farmers

Cam has been trying to get a good photo of himself with Barack O'bacon, he wants to send it to President Obama. He likes this photo, and I hope that him sending it doesn't get us involved with Homeland Security!
Of course, if I took a photo of Cam, that meant I had to take a photo of Quincy the Pig Princess with Frank! Both these guys have appointments to be "sold" on the 14th. I think we will miss Frank though, he is rather ornery and makes all sorts of funny sounds!

We had a pretty laid back day, with not much going on. So when Jim suggested that we go do some brush cutting and burning and have a wiener roast at our land, the kids were pretty excited. Next time, though, we need to go start the fire about an hour or more before we want to cook on it! This was a pretty large fire, and it burned very hot! Also, it might be helpful if it was actually wiener roasting weather (later in the fall). We did get the roasting done, but it was a pretty sweaty job and I think I might be minus a few eyebrows!

The kids love the country! We all can't wait to move!

And look, there is a food that Preston will eat willingly! S'mores - should have guessed! I might add though, that he did NOT want his marshmallow roasted - he likes them cold!

science, football and dances

Way back at the beginning of summer, I made a promise to Cameron. He had somehow missed out on a trip to Science City with his class at school, so I PROMISED that before summer was over, I would take him. Suddenly, I realized that summer is almost over, and then found out that Science City is not open on Monday. It was today or never!

I like Science City, but I really think it is better for younger kids, Preston and Quincy had a ton of fun today! For Colin and Cam, the high-light was either the sky bike (riding a bike on a tight-wire) or perhaps the water table. They were not overly impressed with the rest! It was a pretty fun day overall though! And they had to read some stuff, try some stuff, and think about some stuff, so it was a good activity to get their minds going before they start school next week!

Tonight was the annual blue/white scrimmage at the high school. Colin's jr. high team played and then during halftime of the high school game, the 5th grade team (Cam) got to play. It was a pretty fun evening! The girls were then forced, against their will, to attend the high school's welcome back dance. (I was the forcer). I figure it is a good way to meet some people and get out a little bit before school starts. It was reported to me "that is 2 hours of their lives that they can never get back." I don't buy it - they had fun!

Now I am hoping to go to bed, because science, driving in KC, loads of football watching, and staying up late to drive kids home from school dances makes me tired. However, I seem to have accumulated a house load of 'extra' kiddos, so if the giggling, singing, wrestling and eating slow to a dull roar, I might get sleep!

A screamer and career day

Harper has become a screamer. I don't mean a little wimpy scream, but a full blown, bloody murder, make the neighbors come over kind of a scream. She screams for all sorts of reasons. Don't shovel her food fast enough, walk by when she thinks she needs to be carried around, take her to church and want her to sit on your lap, cat walks by, and a multitude of other reasons all get the screaming started.
Preston and Quincy decided to start a rock band. Preston was on keyboard, Quincy on guitar, and I would have had no problem with this, except that these hard core rockers decided that they should hold their jam session on top of my freezer!

Harper loves kitchen utensils! Cam is convinced she will be a great chef someday!
He is already planning out ways that the two of them can utilize all grilled foods together with delightfully sugar-y dishes!

All afternoon, Quincy kept telling me that when Colin got home from football practice he was taking her fishing. He walked in the door, and sure enough he said "we still going fishing tonight Quincy?" They had a pretty good time catching all sorts of bluegill until I drug them home since it is a school night for Quincy!

Quincy's first day in the 4 year old class

On the first day, Quincy gets up, gets dressed, lets me comb her hair and is ready to go with no fighting. I need that noted for the record!

She was so stinkin' excited today! And I have started praying for Miss Becky!

End of Summer accomplishments

Preston and Quincy have been working all summer on their swimming skills. Preston wanted to learn to swim without his life jacket. Quincy wanted to jump off the diving board by herself.

Mission accomplished!

We are going to enjoy the pool for a few more days, and then it will be closed and the kids will be back in school! Quincy is getting ready for bed because her preschool starts tomorrow!

Summer, where did you go?

appreciation weekend

Jim took Preston and Cam to KSU fan appreciation night this evening. Cam would not have been more happy if we gave him a million dollars. He asked Coach Snyder if he had any good prospects and Coach said "just you."

I am telling ya, this boy was quivering with excitement!

Madison was teaching Quincy a trade!

(Her eye is not black, she has been experimenting with make-up).

We are in the midst of one of those weekends where you think you have nothing going on, but then you find yourself in a whirlwind of activities. Maybe it is good to go in blind, then you don't get terrified and cry!

I was supposed to work today, I have a dam that needs to be inspected and I have been trying to get out there for 4 weeks now. Yesterday, we got a boat load of rain, so once again that was postponed! I am starting to feel a bit cursed on the inspection!

Cam had football practice, Jim helped with soccer sign-ups. Colin had a sleepover/camp out, Cam and Preston wanted to go to fan appreciation day. Harper ended up needing to be taken into Express Care and has an ear infection and bronchitis. Tomorrow I am helping with a luncheon at church to celebrate a member of our congregation making her final vows to be a nun. Monday Quincy starts school, have to do back to school haircuts and highlights for the girls. So much for having a weekend!

Fall stuff

I can tell that fall is officially here. Not by the weather, but by the fact that my house is now full of football equipment. Cameron is really excited about playing Charger Youth Football. He had his first practice tonight. He said it was really, really fun! Colin started Jr. High football practices on Monday. He is having fun too, and he is glad that he spent all his time this summer going to weights, summer wrestling, riding bikes, chasing pigs in the heat, and swimming so he is not the kid who is unable to run, run, run, run and run at practice! They had to run extra today because one of his team mates already lost his pads or uniform or something!

Quincy had her preschool open house tonight as well. She got up this morning and started asking what time we were leaving....no, I haven't learned to NOT tell the kids what we are doing until right before walking out the door! When I got home from work, I had to run to the bank and she started to cry because she thought I was going to open house without her! She had a great time at the open house. She starts back on Monday, and left tonight jumping up and down and talking on and on about how she couldn't wait! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. I took some photos with my cell phone, but Madison and I could not get them to send. I have given up for now!

Yesterday, I spent the whole day in Topeka. Quincy has another ear infection. I was a little disappointed, but our doctor insured me that the tubes were in place, and draining the infection, just the way they are supposed to. I was hoping antibiotics were a thing of the past. We then purchased all of the back to school supplies. Well, except for a couple of pairs of shoes for Colin and Cam, and the girls want to go spend their babysitting money on some new clothes. If school were starting tomorrow, we would be mostly ready though. I feel a little bit mean because Preston is so excited and I won' t let him play with his new stuff. I had a vision of it being drug all over the house, and, frankly, I just can't face another trip to the school supply aisle! Soon enough he will have access! When we were waiting in line yesterday, Quincy was getting a little antsy. She looked at me and said "can they hurry up, we have been here for eleventy-four minutes already."

Tomorrow I am planning to make salsa and jalapeno jelly. We have had a nice harvest from our garden (aka weed patch). Luckily, Cam has been more than willing to go digging in the weeds looking for the vegetables! I am glad that we put the garden in, but every time I do this I swear it will not turn into a weed patch, and it always does. I am not a gardener I guess! Perhaps the weeds created a bit of shade from the blistering heat last week?