New stuff

Jim probably won't like that I am saving this picture, as he was not fond of Cameron and his friend Otis buying matching speedo's for their trip to Anaheim. Since these are the absolute only photos he has sent from his trip, I can not really pick anything else! I found it sort of amusing. They are both giant goofballs! Cameron says he is having fun! I hope when he gets home, he has some more pictures to share!

Harper got her new glasses!

Last year, we ordered a pair of glasses for her, and when we went to get them, the optical place had made a substitution. She was a sad little girl, but it was the day before school started and she needed glasses, so we did not argue with them about it. She was pretty fast picking these out, she knew exactly what she wanted and what color she wanted it in! She was visibly relieved when they opened the case and it was exactly what she wanted! Happy Harper! She looks so grown up we think!

Almost fate

I love to pick strawberries in the summer and hoard them in the freezer for winter. They never taste as good in the winter when you buy them at the store! I like this place outside of Lawrence, but when the picking was good, we were on vacation. I recently learned of a small farm outside our town that has you pick produce and the prices seem amazing.

Madison and I decided to give it a try yesterday. The little girls were happy to help! Preston told me he did not feel that he should have to harvest a fruit he hates! My day turned into a fiasco, but Madison was amazing as usual, and got our berries all put away for delicious summer treats this winter!

Preston had football practice, and the little girls had a make up game in Harveyville (the first one was rained out after 1 inning). I knew we would be a little bit early, but we dropped Preston and headed out. There is a nice playground near the ballpark, so I figured killing 20 minutes would be easy. Except when the team should have started arriving for warm-ups, they were not people we knew. I got on the team page (not easy considering the cellular disaster that we were in) and discovered that the game was not until 8. We did not really have enough time to go anywhere and get back, but killing time in Harveyville, Kansas is not an easy thing to do! I called Jim who was picking up Preston and heading our way so he would know. He said he would bring dinner and meet us at the park.

Luckily, the kids I had with me love parks! Jim called to say the place he tried to buy pizza from would not take a check. It was feeling like a disaster! The girl's team arrived for warm-up. Then I heard it. Thunder. I killed almost 2 hours in a town without even a store....and now it is going to rain? I seriously almosy cried.

The Harveyville ballpark has a ton of overhead shelter. The decision was made to wait a few minutes because the radar made the storm seems very small. After about 15 minutes we were able to play ball!

Which is awesome because Harper had a couple of very successful at bats!

And because I was not planning to make a 3rd trip there!

We got home a lot later than we planned, but we were still able to have birthday cake and ice cream with Colin! Only a couple days late!

Knowing how I love photos, and that I like to take a picture on their special day, Colin shared this gem from his actual birthday!

Cameron was up and out the door at 4 this morning to catch his flight to Anaheim. He has worked very hard for this, and I sincerely hope it is an amazing experience for him!

Weekends are the best

We had a glorious, cool weather, awesome weekend! It was Colin's 19th birthday, but he spent it in Manhattan at Stampede. We still have to have his birthday dinner! The rest of the family enjoyed hanging out together, working around our house, and playing a little!

The baby turkeys are starting to resemble turkeys rather than cute little chicks. My plan of having a freezer full of turkey is not working out as well as we had hoped. We started with a dozen, we are down to 5. We are not sure exactly what is going wrong. We are really hoping to get these to adulthood! The baby goat is doing so great! She is adorable and we all just love her!

Jim spent a great amount of time with the chainsaw lately. There were a few dead trees he took down as well as the never ending red cedar battle. The kids like when they see him with a chainsaw, as it always means a fire will be lit!

I went out to talk to Jim yesterday and my heart swelled when I saw what was taking place. Preston and Quincy helping their little sisters with their batting skills. It makes my day when I see the love they have for each other.

Saige and Harper's coach took this picture. It made me smile. The little girls are having a great time playing softball this summer! Its a no stress, good friend, fun team, and the parents are pretty cool to hang out with as well!

Preston's team has struggled, but I believe that he is still having fun! He had a nice hit and I am impressed with his base stealing skills! The boy is so fast!

Harper and Saige's coach mixed things up at Lyndon this week. Harper and Saige both got to try their hands at playing catcher! Saige needs to grow into the gear though!

The people who are pasturing our goats have been on vacation this week. We have been driving across the country to check them. We had a great conversation about the wheat harvest! I love that my kids are growing up learning about the hard work that goes into feeding the world.

Hazy, and crazy

We had another busy week. No sign of lazy days of summer for us! I love the summer days but this week was about as exhausting as I ever care for a week to get!
Quincy was offered a flock of chickens. There were 35 hens and 5 roosters that some friends decided they no longer wanted. We do not have room for that many, but Quincy was so excited by the offer that we did let her bring home a couple of laying hens. Some are Ameraucanas which are sometimes referred to as "Easter eggers." She was thrilled when she started getting a few green eggs this week! We still have some chickens at grandma's house that we need to bring home. Clearly we have lost our minds!

I always use summer to catch up the kid's well child visits, eye exams, dental visits and every other kind of appointment known to moms. It always seems like a good idea until we actually have to drive into town! This week, Harper had an eye exam. For the first time since she was 15 months old, they are letting her go for a full year between visits! She was pretty happy about that! She is doing well with the bifocals and we got her new glasses ordered!

Most of our evenings are spent at the ballpark. Jim's best childhood memories involve a baseball bat it seems, and he loves watching the kids! This week Saige got her first hit in a game. It went foul, but we are still counting it! Her coach awarded her the MVP for that game!

We happened to have a ball free evening this week on the pool's night swim! My kids love night swim for some reason! Gotta love summer!

Can't play in the rain

Saige and I spent all afternoon on Friday in the kitchen. We made a cake, all sorts of other good foods, and bagged ice cream! We had fun, but I must have been asked 1000 times when the kids would be home.

The kids had a great time at camp. We picked them up Saturday afternoon. They looked like zombies and had a million stories to tell! Saige was tired of my entertainment and extremely happy to see the kids!

We got home with just enough time to drop the bags and get dressed for ball. Harper and Saige had a game in Harveyville, Preston had a game at home, and Quincy had practice. I took the girls to Harveyville. When we got there it was incredibly, uncomfortably hot. I decided to sit in the shade until the game started. As I am sitting there, I swore I heard thunder. Sure enough, by game time, that county was under a thunderstorm warning. They played one inning. Saige got to bat, but Harper never did. I loaded the girls and told them its ok, we will just go to Overbrook and watch the rest of Preston's game. As we pulled into town, I got a text from Mallory saying they cancelled practice due to lightening. I pulled in the ballpark and learned that Preston's game had also been called off. We got home just in time before a large storm dumped a lot of rain! Harper told me she prefers storms at home instead of at camp!

Happy Father's Day

We are very blessed that we get to spend our lives with this father.
I am pleased that he is a hardworking, loving, kind, and fun kind of guy to raise kids with.
When we were dating, I told Jim I wanted a dozen kids. He did not bat an eye, he said well that seems like sort of a lot, but it will be fun. We are a few short of the original goal, but it has been a bunch if fun!

Happy Father's day Jim! We all love you!

Exciting times

I am hearing a little bit from the camp front mostly thank you to my friend Julie who is sending me photos of the kids! I heard there was a tornado warning and that the entire camp took cover in the basement of Heritage Hall!

I texted to see if they were ok and Cameron assured me it was not worth worrying about - merely "precautionary!" I'm glad that someone took precautionary measures!

From here it looked as if the weather was good for most of the day, allowing them to get in most of their activities!

On the homefront, little missy pants may just be getting spoiled! Mallory and Madison both had the day off, so they went to Gage park and rode the train and merry-go-round. They also went out for lunch, and let Saige spend her sonic gift card she got from religion ed class!

Currently all three of the home girls are "camping" in the living room. Saige is in absolute heaven!

When we went out to do chores this evening, we had a little surprise. We knew Princess Cupcake Rainbow Police Car was due to kid soon, but failed to see any signs this morning, or even this afternoon when I went out to water. She has one little girl who Saige named Erica. She is a cute little baby and the momma seems to be taking good care of her! It is Saige's first official baby! Crossing our fingers for patience with this because the momma is not overly tame or friendly. We are hoping we can handle the kid a lot from birth so we can break the cycle of wild goats! When we bought this goat (and Shadow) I assumed that by being with tame goats, and around us all the time, they would, at some point tame down and be friendly. I can now get them both to take food from my hand, but if you want to work them at all, you have a rodeo on your hands! Saige is so in love with the baby....maybe she can work some magic!