Things to do

So our lives have changed.  Things we thought were important have taken a backseat to staying home and safe from infection.  Activities we enjoy have been cancelled, entire sports seasons gone, churches closed.  Seeing friends is not happening.  We have lived this with the kids for a few weeks now.  We are ok.  We are not a  family that allows the b word.  Nobody would ever say they are bored to me - because I have lists.  They all know better!  And honestly, we are all ok.  Nothing really bad has happened to us as they asked us all to stay home.  We have, on occasion, done some things as a result that I would have never done though.  I let my kids make all sorts of concoctions, and I broke one of my own long standing life rules.  I do not like to wait more than 30 minutes on places to eat.  If a restaurant has a line, we go elsewhere.  I have, on more than one occasion, made Jim really sad because I hate to wait.  He has his heart set on eating someplace and I will refuse to sit around waiting to be seated.  Enter pandemic.  Rules broken, kids craving their lives back.  Carbondale brought in the Kona Ice truck.  You all know my kids love this kind of stuff.  Snow cones at the county fair, slushes from Sonic, frozen sodas from Casey's....absolutely crazy for it.  They asked if we could go over.  I caved.  When we got there, the line was already long.  We honestly don't have anything better to do than wait, which is how, this week I broke my own longstanding rule and stood in line for an hour to get shaved ice.  Yes, a whole hour.  In. The.  Rain.  We had been there 30 minutes when it started to rain.  We stayed there anyway.  For shaved ice.  It was worth it though.  Landrie was also in line, so Quincy got to see her bestie, which made her super happy.  Everyone got their shaved ice and it felt wonderful to be out, among (socially distant) other people, and have a little slice of normal.  

We also slipped to the pet store and got some Plecos - which are cleaning fish.  Our tank was incredibly disgusting.  I was telling the kids they would be amazed at how fast these fish work to clean the tank.  They didn't believe me.  It is truly amazing, within 24 hours the glass is completely clear of the algae that was growing.  They have migrated to the rocks, and things are looking so much better.  I forgot how much I enjoyed having fish.  Once the stay home orders are lifted, I promised the kids we can go and they can pick out some that they like.  I can't wait!

Speaking of fish, Quincy and Preston think that we need to fish daily.  I guess the good news is that if things get hard, we can eat fish.  (probably not though).  

We are hearing that the governor is not extending the stay home orders that expire next week, but will be leaving it to the individual counties on how to re-open the economy.  I am happy to think things are progressing, but I believe until we see what happens, and how fast the virus spreads, we will still be laying low, and not going far from home.  Seems like we should go slow, see how things go, and try to stay safe still.  

The dad-ster

I post a lot of stuff about the kids.  The blog is my family scrapbook and a way that I track our family shenanigans.  The blog is obviously written from my view point because it’s my blog.  Sometimes I forget to mention the stuff Jim is doing.  Well, he isn’t really one who likes to be highlighted, and he doesn’t really pause for photos or take selfies.  One thing that is always a constant though, Jim likes to do things to make our lives safe, fun, and happy.  We recently decided to replace the pool.  Of course, this means that the old pool has to be removed, trees trimmed back, and the pool deck has a couple of bad boards.  This man gathered the kids and we all worked together to get the stuff ready for a new pool.  I’m sure he was tired and he had a rough day, but he always comes home to us, always tries to make our lives better.  I’m hella proud to be married to this dude.   And having someone around who isn’t afraid to climb a ladder (with a chainsaw) is definitely beneficial too.  

Frankie loves Harper, particularly if Quincy isn’t around.  She came in yesterday and asked me to remove him from her hair.  He was picking at her hair like he thought it was spaghetti.  Every time she reached up to get him, he was nipping her fingers.   He’s such a hot mess.  

One of the highlights of my week is Sunday dinner.  My sweet grandkid is growing up so fast!  We all got a kick out of her barking like a dog!  

Today grandma and Clayton came over to try again to make the mentos explosion.  Once again it failed.  I think we are giving up.  Not every thing you see on the internet  is real right?  

My friend’s son sent me a video about how to hypnotize a chicken.  We could not get that to work either!  

It was a Monday....we should have known!  

Critters

A friend of mine offered to sell us her kid’s hermit crab collection.  They had 7 crabs in a cool set up and her kids have lost interest.  We lost Eugene, and since the crabs like to live in groups, we decided to go for it.  Mr. Pincher now has new friends, more space, and a heated tank. The girls were all very excited.  Saige loves the crabs.  Or she did....until one pinched her and we could not get him to let go!   (She is insulted but not actually hurt!). 

Frankie does not like the crabs.  Or the cats.   Or the dog.  Or Preston.  Such a grouchy bird. 

This morning, the kids sold 6 does. They were full of mixed emotion as these were the first girls we owned.  Curley, Totes, Buttee, Glow, Jill and Julia all went to live with one of my co-workers who is using them for chemical free weed control.  They will have a good home, which made it easier.  We still have the 4-H babies until August.   We will continue to buy a few goats in the summer, and may dabble with breeding again someday, but for now this was a good move we think.   One thing about it, the winter chores will be a lot easier!  

Remember....

We broke social distancing and stay home orders today and snuck off to Manhattan to see Cameron.  It had been weeks since we last saw him.  Honestly I couldn’t do it anymore.  This week he tweeted that he was missing his mom.  It broke me.  I decided there are things we could do in Manhattan outside and it would be ok.  So the kids and I ate lunch with Evelyn, and then jumped in the car.  We joked about being thugs and criminals.  We had a serious conversation about how it maybe was a bit of a risk.  When we saw Cameron, and he was so happy that we came to his house, the risk was worth it in my mind.  

My intent was to take the kids to Pillsbury Crossing.  It was where the pioneers crossed Deep Creek and the Kansas River in their coveted wagons. It is a Rock ledge and there is a waterfall.  Apparently everyone in Manhattan had the same idea.  There were probably 100 people there, and as we pulled in, so did the Riley County police.   We wouldn’t have stayed anyway due to trying to follow social distancing ideas in public, and avoiding crowds.  We decided we would go to the top of Manhattan hill and then go hike the Kanza prairie nature trails in the beautiful flint hills.  Both things had numerous people at them, but we were able to maintain a pretty good amount of social distance.  I’m not sure that the college kids are concerned about covid 19 at all. Manhattan was just as busy as it always is. 

We had a lot of conversations that went like— remember when we wouldn’t have cared if there was a crowd? Hey, can we go to Call Hall and get ice cream and cheese?  Nope it’s closed.  Hey can we- oh yea. Stupid pandemic.  Oh what about -groan cant do that either.  All of our favorite things to do in Manhattan are closed.  We had a lot of “Remember when” conversations.  Not that we didn’t have fun, or that it wasn’t amazing to see Cameron, but the corona virus is definitely changing life as we knew it.  

Cameron is doing really well.  He is the only one left at his house. His roommates all went back home. He says people are pretty generous and he is working a lot of hours at Texas Roadhouse doing curbside services.  He calls it “working the streets” and says his boss doesn’t really find that funny.  We all went out for dinner at Dairy Queen.  The kids think it is awesome that Cameron’s house is 2 blocks from there- how awesome would that be?  I’m very glad we got to spend the afternoon together.  I have missed my boy!   

I think the Kansas Flint Hills is some of the most beautiful scenery you will ever see.  

On the ride home we stopped to get rock candy at the Velero - a tradition Jim started with the kids when they were babies.  

The ride home also had a lengthy conversation about how the kids really do miss school.  I know they are missing their friends and Quincy and Preston both said going to class is better than being online.  They are all sick of zoom meetings and they all said they would be happy to go back to school.  It was sort of heartbreaking.  I know they are all grieving their normal lives.  The first few weeks was sort of a fun, extended spring break.  The reality started settling in.  For all the downfalls people talk about in the public schools, our kids have had good experiences overall, and they would happily take their places in school again.  I know they had a good day and I don’t take the conversation personally, I have similar feelings.  I hate to shop- absolutely hate it. I hate going to stores and looking for stuff.  Until I was told I couldn’t.  I usually chop around on my own hair, and color it at home until I was told I couldn’t go get it done.  Something about being told I can’t makes me want it more.  It’s silly.  I know that.  I’m sure I’m not alone though.  

Hangin with my peeps

I pick up the school lunches every day.  Yesterday, the kids didn't like  the lunch, so I got out a  package of hotdogs.  I came into the living room to see Quincy sharing her hot dog with 2 cats and a parrot.  I am fairly confident that she is immune to any and all diseases.  

After lunch, Mallory showed up.  She wanted to do an online experiment with her kids, but needed a little help with video and wanted to have someone to share the experience with.  They made elephant toothpaste, Saige ran the camera, and the kids all played in the soapy mess it created.  I think anything that gets them to play in soap is a good idea!  

We used our "trump" check - which by the way is our money - and it irritates me that he thinks otherwise, to have our septic tank sucked out.  We have lived in our "new" house exactly 6 years now.  It is still my dream house, still my dream property, still my happy place in a world of craziness.  Jim and I both feel exceptionally blessed to be living our dream.

This is our barn cat Sticker Paws.  She was absolutely huge.  Looked like she was an inflated balloon.  She had 2 kittens.  Yes 2.  I swear I thought she would have 10 the way she looked.  She is an excellent mouse cat and a pretty good momma cat.  I hope these survive.  I had my semi-annual conversation with the kids about leaving the barn cats alone so the kittens will be wild.  Wild cats do so much better at survival in the country.  Saige told me she was only touching them once a day.  Uhhhhh that is NOT how it works.  These kittens are named Penny and Fineapple.  Our record on kitten survival is extremely low.  

I told the kids these cookies were for "teacher appreciation day" so basically they are all for me.  Preston told me he doesn't enjoy my sense of humor at all.  

I enrolled Preston and Quincy in classes for high school next year.  I am having a hard time with the idea that Quincy is going to be a freshman.  She has grown up too fast.  She won the battle on not taking band next year.  She is taking a culinary class and woodshop instead.  Maybe between her and Preston both taking woodshop, I will get my farm house table finished!  :)  

The falls

When I was in high school, we used to hang out at Osage lake.  It is a good place for a bon fire, fishing, day drinking, skipping class, and other stuff.  I don’t advocate these activities, but I heard “other people” have done this.   When Mallory and Madison were in high school, I used to beg them to go out and “act like kids.”   They rarely did.  One night, they told me they were going out to hang at Osage lake. I told them to be careful because half of the children in Osage county were conceived at that lake.  They were so not amused with me.  

When Cameron was in high school, he once went to the falls (the back side of the dam has some beautiful waterfalls).  He had a basketball game for his summer league.  He locked his keys in his car out there.  No problem - I’ll just pick you up and we will get the car later.  Oh no, he had locked the keys and his basketball uniform, and his shoes in the car.   We had to call a friend of mine who is a locksmith.  When I told him where the car was located, he laughed and said yes he was familiar with the place.  

Enter a pandemic.  My younger crowd is handling their stay home orders like a pack of hyenas would.  Actually, they aren’t that bad, but they do tend to ask regularly if I can take them on a car ride.  Today, I decided some hiking at the falls would be fun for them.  It was beautiful out!  There were a lot of people fishing and camping, but no one on the trails or at the falls.  The kids had a great time exploring and taking pictures.  I’m glad I drug them out there.  

On our way home, we were discussing dinner.  Saige wanted spaghetti.  Quincy wanted to make cake balls.  Everyone was happy tonight!

  

I see that there are starting to be some people picketing and protesting against the stay home orders. I honestly can understand both sides of this argument.  It is an interesting time in the history of our country.  Watching the oil markets crash, seeing hundreds of thousands out of work, watching the government pass stimulus bill after stimulus bill, with no idea how we will cover that, and feeling like we are selling out our grandchildren for this is terrifying.  And the fear of getting sick, of infecting your grandma, of trying to figure out what is safe, what is not safe, where you can go, where you should avoid.  It’s overwhelming.   Honestly I just have to keep doing these fun things with the kids just to keep myself from worrying about it too much.  I do have the power to pray for a positive ending, so that is what I am doing. 

Exploders

 

Grandma has been playing on facebook too much, and happened to see a video of a mentos explosion she thought we should try.  She showed up yesterday  with all the stuff needed, and asked the kids if they wanted to create an explosion.  Of course they did.  Unfortunately, we did not realize that you need to line the hole with a can or container of some sort, so we didn't get the kind of reaction we were hoping for.  We will try again soon!

 

Not to be completely bummed out, grandma added a mento to her diet coke and watched it go crazy!

 

It has been a few weeks since the kids have been able to really hang out with anyone.  We had to practice our social distancing, which is hard for them and for grandma, but I like that they are still making memories and trying stuff out!  This time is challenging for everyone.  

 

After grandma went home, the Preston asked if he could take the kids to catch some crappie, hoping to get some for a fish fry.  We let him take them, but they did  not have any luck getting crappie.  They threw these back!  Hoping for more nice days so we can try again!  

Fun weekend

It was so much fun to have Colin here for a couple days.  It made the weekend fly by!   We had a little smoked meat, some s’mores, some backyard baseball, and lots of fishing at all our favorite spots.  

The new goats are great!   The kids and I had an offer from a coworker of mine at the township and decided to sell all of the does. This will mean that we only have the 4-H goats and none over the winter.  It also means we will not have any kids born next winter.  Honestly, this winter of losing so many was heartbreaking and we think this will work better.  We love the babies, but it is really heard to lose them if they have a rough start.  We are planning to use the proceeds of this sale to buy a pool for the yard.  I am fearing the social distancing dragging into summer and not being allowed to use the city pool.   We have missed our pool since it broke a couple of years ago anyway.  We are looking forward to having a pool in the yard again.    

Boomer came through her surgery just fine.  The kids were very relieved and happy to have her back home. 

I think we are ready for a new week of homeschool and whatever new adventures await!