Manic monday

I have a board meeting tomorrow, so I needed to work a little bit this afternoon.  Quincy said she was willing to watch Saige and Harper and swim with them, so I allowed them to go to the pool for a short time.   When I got back, Saige met me at the gate to tell me “it is too cold to swim” she followed that up with “can I have an ice cream?”   She is hilarious.

Cameron has been working for Uncle Leo this summer.  He told Leo if he had a Hawaiian shirt, his productivity would increase by 30%.  He was obviously not at work last week, but Leo met him this morning with not only a Hawaiian shirt, but new swim wear as well!  I am unclear on how his productivity was today, but he took pictures and framed them for Uncle Leo that say “employee of the month!”   Leo will be very surprised.

The fair is coming up quick.  The kids have worked really hard with this year’s goats, but we are all unhappy with their growth.  I am sure they aren’t prize winning goats, but they are friendly and sweet!  I am still proud of the work the kids have put in.  If only we had another month!

Masonic week

Cameron spent this week donating his time to the Kansas Masonic band with 200 other kids from across the state.  They perform at the Shrine bowl as the conclusion of their camp.  It always amazes me when these kids get together and after a few short days, put on such an impressive performance.   Plus I am very proud of Cameron for donating his time and energy to such a worthwhile cause.

Jim and I went down to Pittsburg to watch.  We did not go down for the parade in the morning, but I heard it was fun!

Cameron plays the tuba.  I tried to circle him because we were far away.

We did go for the pregame, and the halftime performances. They did not disappoint (unlike the Italian food we ate as a special celebration of having a day by ourselves!).

Good job Cameron and band kids!   It was an exceptionally fun night!  I enjoyed having hours with the dude I married.

Jim and Colin were unloading a pitching machine.  Jim dropped his side and bashed his own skull around pretty good.  The cut was bad enough, but overnight the big shiner developed.  It’s pretty wicked looking!  This is made worse by the fact that last week he had a gash on the other side of his forehead from a branch snapping back.  People are starting to think he is in an abusive marriage!  In all honesty, I am very thankful he wasn’t hurt much worse.  Colin said it could have been really bad.  

Summer after ball....

There is life after ball season!  We have enjoyed the reclaiming of our evenings!   This evening, despite them calling for rain (who are we kidding- it doesn’t rain here!?!) we made a little trip to the lake.  I had to pick Jim up anyway, so it was a good way to spend the evening.  Pomona lake has taken a beating from zebra mussels.  I was told by a friend if we went over, to make the kids wear shoes.  This turned out to be very good advice!  The beach is littered with the shells and they are sharp like glass!
The kids still had a lot of fun.  Colin went along and we were talking about how these kids have fun no matter where we go!  It’s a good life skill!

Cameron is attending Kansas Masonic band camp this week in Pittsburgh.  I am proud of him for donating his time for such a worthy cause!  This will be his final performance before he starts college!  I am still trying to convince him KSU band would be fun!

Grandma and Mallory took Clayton, Saige and Harper, along with Amy and her daycare kids to the dinosaur exhibit at Union Ststion today.  The girls must have been impressed because they talked and talked about it all evening!   Clayton was equally enthralled!  Preston and Quincy elected to stay home.  They were commenting on how quiet it was at home today!  Quincy made us a Texas sheetcake.  It turned out amazing despite us tweaking the recipe due to not having all the needed ingredients.  It is completely gone this evening, which in this house means it was good!
This summer, I have been getting up early, walking and talking on the phone with my friend Grace.  It is good motivation to get up early and I have thoroughly enjoyed my morning chats with a woman who I don’t get to spend near enough time with.  20-25 minutes flies by and makes exercising a little more fun. The scenery is amazing as well!  When school starts, I am gong to miss this.
The kittens have turned out to be a wonderful addition to our house.  They are potty trained, sweet and super helpful with laundry!   I had  forgotten how much I like having a cat to play with.

Chicken Saturday

They are making all chickens shown at county fairs be tested for pollorum.   We missed the testing date for our county,  but after making a couple calls, were told we could attend the testing day at Douglas county.  We got there when they opened, but were beat in line by a woman who was having literally 50 chickens tested.   She had a couple of kids with her but it was obvious needed more help.  Quincy jumped right in and helped them.  She had a great time!  We got her chickens tested and they are all good to go for showing at the fair in a couple of weeks.  She would probably have stayed and helped all day. She loves this sort of stuff.

It is our month to clean the church.  While I was cleaning, the girls went with grandma and picked up ears of corn out of the field where grandpa is chopping.  The chopper always leaves some behind.  They love gathering these treats for the chickens and goats.  The chickens and goats love it too!

3rd!

Quincy had a couple of nights of tournament play.   They played Lyndon and lost.  Quincy did not pitch, but she did play a little at catcher and shortstop.  She is definitely mean and aggressive enough to play catcher, but if she was going to play that position very often, she would have to work on her speed.

Last night, they played Osage City for 3rd/4th place.  Quincy did a tremendous job pitching.  They won the game, making them finish in 3rd place!

Quincy and Landrie made sure to dump the water on the coaches, a win just isn’t a win without the water dump!

They also bit their medals just like any Olympian should!

Jim offered to buy them dinner.  There is only one place to eat in Harveyville....Hell Rayzors. The girls had a blast singing karaoke and eating giant burgers.  At one point, Quincy proclaimed “this is my favorite bar!” Because if you raise your kids right, your 12 year old is a great judge of bar quality.
I am very proud of Quincy.  She helped the girls on her team who had not played before. She was patient and wanted them to improve.  She also worked her tail off even when they were getting creamed at times.  I feel like the girls all improves. It was a good summer of ball.
Of course, the mom sighed a small sigh of relief at the season ending.  I love ball season, but I equally love evenings of freedom!