It may not be exciting to you....

My gardening I mean - might not be exciting for you.  But for me - it is so exciting.  Besides, my older kids are all telling me I have officially fallen into the "empty nester" phase of life, despite having 2 children still living at home.  I guess I might as well prove them right.  The best part of getting old, besides seeing your kids build lives and be successful, is grandparenting.  These girls are so much fun for us, and I can't wait til there is a whole, entire yard full of them!  Grandkids are the best reward for the insanity of raising children.  Seriously, how fun is it to get to do all the fun stuff, help out when needed, plan things with children that you want to do, and then at the end of the day, you aren't really responsible for them or their expenses?  IT IS AMAZING!  

These are my absolute favorite flower.  Gaillardia.  Which I am sure I am butchering the spelling on.  They grow wild in places, and my mom seems to be able to get them to grow in sidewalk cracks, and the middle of her yard.  I have struggled.  Last year, I finally had one that took off.  It spread.  It looked amazing all summer.  And then, winter.  They are supposed to come back.  I followed all the directions my mother gave me.  I didn't see any sign of it.  So I bought 2 more at the plant sale.  As I was planting them last night, I realized the one from last year is INDEED coming back!  There is green on the underside of it.  Seriously, I was jumping for joy when I saw it!  I still planted the new ones.  Someday, I will have an entire, beautifully full, amazingly beautiful end  of the driveway zone!

I also bought these pink things at the plant sale.  Do I know the name of them?  Nope! But they are my absolute favorite color.  And they said perennial on the tag, which is what I am buying for the area I wanted to put them.  Seriously, aren't they pretty?  My plan - tear out the mums I planted last year in the fall, and put them in the holes.  Except, when I started to tear out the old dead mums, I realized they too, are coming back!  Yesterday was an exciting day!  New holes for the pink beauties, dead stuff trimmed back off the old mums so these new ones will hopefully thrive!  

All three of my clearance sale knock out roses came back as well.  If you drive by, and see my dancing around, I am just excited, not having a seizure.  All is good! 

Jim helped me get the tiller run over the garden again (man the weeds came up fast) and I managed to plant the tomatoes and peppers that I also bought at the plant sale last week.  I need a few more to finish my rows, but I am feeling good about getting them in the ground ahead of the rain that is supposed to be coming in today.  I have always loved to garden, but this year, I am starting to think it is not just a hobby, but something that may be needed for getting around the grocery prices and shortages that are predicted.  I am taking it a little more seriously than I have before.  

After all the gardening, Maude was exhausted.  And dirty.  She got a bath!  She hates bath time.  She cries like a true baby!  I picked up a bell at the garage sale this weekend.  I am going to try getting her to ring the bell to tell me she wants to go outside.  Maybe that will help with the potty training.  I have heard it works.  She is adorable and sweet.  I just love her!

Time is really flying by.  I can't believe April is over!  I can tell we have entered the end of the school year, even if I didn't have a calendar to tell me the date.  How?  Because it is officially "spend 100 bucks before you even leave the house" time.  I need money for a field trip, a yearbook, class snack day, and a whole myriad of whatever the heck else they can think to do to kill off a few days before summer break.  Happens every year.  After 24 years of having kids in school, you'd think I would know to have a little money set aside for May!!  

 

Late Easter

We had Easter dinner today with our kids and some aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents.  It was a nice day and I was so happy to see all of our kids (except for Preston and Sunny).   Preston couldn’t get off work.  

It was sort of a rainy day, but not overly cold and we were happy to be able to hunt for eggs in the yard.  GG gave the kids all their annual kites, and they did fly them in the yard.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t windy enough up here, surrounded by trees.   Which lead some of them to try flying the kites off the back of Gavin’s truck.  If you look close, you can see the kites over the tree line at the end of the road. 

The kids spent the afternoon and we had dinner together before they all headed back to their own busy lives.  I always love having my house full of my people.  I feel very blessed that we were able to have this day. 

That being said, it is too quiet here now. No insane stories, random ideas, chaotic laughing, and happy togetherness.  I miss them when they leave. But I am so proud of them all, and can’t wait to see them next time.  

Happy late Easter!  

Geeerage sale Saturday

It has been a crazy weekend already.  Currently  I’m at work slinging liquor and killing time until I can go home and crawl into bed.  However, blogging on my phone has never been the easiest, so the photos aren’t in the order I wanted them.  I can’t get it fixed, and since I’m just trying to occupy my brain and convince myself I’m not tired, I am just going with it.   

Harper, Saige and I spent our Friday evening setting up the annual 4-H garage sale.  Jim helped get ready for the annual fishing derby, and then ran to get goat food and groceries so that we could make breakfast burritos for the garage sale. 

I am also cleaning house because we are having Easter dinner at our house Sunday.  I had a list and had started in on it. Saige asked me if she could please not work at the sale, and sweetened the pot by telling me she would do the rest of my list.  Except for washing dishes, which she hates.  Close enough kid- sold!

Jim was up early and out the door for the fishing derby.  Harper and I were right behind him, breakfast burritos hot and ready.  Our club has 3 girls attending CWF next summer.  Those girls took on the concessions. They worked really hard, the day wasn’t as lucrative as it normally is, but they still each have some money for their accounts.  Side note- Harper hates this sort of stuff.  Talking to people, acting friendly, making change - not her favorite.  That being said, she worked her a$$ off today. She busted her hump all day.  She made me very proud.  Saige also did a great job and had most of my list accomplished when we got back.  My girls are growing up into productive, hard working people.  

I did take a time out from the garage sale to go over and see how the fishing was going.  

When I was there, Evie was upset because she wasn’t catching any fish.  Wrenley was using her pole to try to stab people, hitting Andrew with it, digging out the worms, and almost fell into the water.  I laughed, and then exited stage left.  Cause although I love them, the benefit of being the grandparent is literally not my circus, not my monkeys.   Plus it was cold out there!  

They did end  up catching fish.  Andrew is so patient with them, and seems to be genuinely wanting them to love fishing as much as he does.   

 

 

The fishing photos are mixed in with the kindergarten field trip photos.  Evelyn’s class went to the zoo on Friday. She was so excited!  GG and Madison drove their buses, which meant Wrenley got to go and hang out with GG!  I think it was a lot of fun for everyone!

More fun to come - but first - we must sleep! 

Some kinda something

This week has been interesting.  Warmer weather, storms, craziness.  It is garage sale week here.  I know I have written about city wide garage sale week before, but it goes without saying it is insane.  Everyone collectively loses their minds.  What?  A tv stand that I don't need?  I must stop my car in the middle of the street, walk over, talk to the person, try to talk them down from the $2 that they are asking for it, and then stand there talking some more, all while still blocking the street.  And it starts early - as in the sales are set up and going now!  As in, yes, try to get to work Hope - just try - you want to drive around the side street to park the bus, as you do every single day?  Yea....too bad for you!  :)

The garage sale is the biggest fundraiser that the 4-H club does each year.  And for me, even if I don't volunteer, because I am in town, I get voluntold regardless.  People start bringing stuff to my office to donate to the 4-H garage sale.  My office is full of donations, my car is full of donations, I have people calling to see where I am at, so they can drop off donations.  And I truly don't mind, but it always turns my week into a bit of a circus.  

Last night, I told our neighbor I would swing by after my bus route to pick up their donations.  As I was finishing my route, the bus radio started doing the screaming weather alert thing (if you live in the mid-west, you know).  The storms were still a bit north of us, so I dropped the girls off with instructions to get chores done quickly and I would be right back.  As I am at the neighbor's house, loading their donations, I can hear their weather radio going off inside their house.  I got in the car - to hear tornado warning, but north of us, and severe thunderstorm warning for our area.  I quickly ran home to find the goats were out (apparently our goat pen expansion project needs more work).  The girls and I managed to get them caught, and put up right as the lightening started bouncing around.  We didn't quite make it inside before the rain started falling.  It was a toad strangler!    

My little bus boss!

This is from my parent's back deck.  We didn't have quite as good of a view of the rainbow!

We lost a lot of the new leaves and branches from our trees!

The rainbow we could see from our back deck!

Mallory got worried about her basement flooding - although she said her sump pump seemed to be working.  She decided to come out and grab our shop vac in case she needed it.  As she came in the house, she told me that the stop sign on my bus was flashing.  The current fleet of buses we have is honestly a pile of junk.  They are absolute garbage.  The rear stop sign's wiring and relay switches are on the outside of the bus - which means they get wet when it rains, which means that they can and do short out.  I had to run out and cut the battery in order to stop it.  Ridiculous.  I stopped to show the transportation mechanic this morning, and he said sadly, he can't fix it, but it should stop when it dries out.  Nice?  I noticed there were a couple other buses flashing as well.  The good news is the sign folds up and comes out as it is supposed to, so the flashing is up next to the bus and not stopping people as I drive down the road.  What a fiasco!  

The good news is I haven't needed to water my garden, or my trees this week!

Mallory has spent this school year traveling around, visiting the schools of the other Kansas Teacher of the Year nominees.  They have collaborated, commiserated, compared and contrasted and become good friends.  This week, she had her last school visit.  She has learned so much, grown professionally, and really taken in a lot of information.  It was a good program, a great bunch of people to get to know, and a really amazing opportunity for her.  Resources I know she will continue to utilize and make herself an even bigger asset to her career!

Aunt Mal also gave the girls spray chalk - thus beginning their careers as vandals!

 

Easter!

Easter was a cold, rainy, gray day.  It didn't stop us from celebrating the holiday though.  

We did skip the outside photos and the easter egg hunting outdoors!

The girls and I attended mass.  Mallory met us there, but I didn't take my phone in, and I didn't take any photos of the church flowers, which I always really enjoy.  

Spencer's cousin got married, so Colin and Spencer were pretty tied up with that this weekend.  Sunny's sister joined the church, so Preston and Sunny went to be with her family for Easter.  So we decided to do our big celebrating next weekend when everyone could be home.  Never one to shy away from cooking a big meal, I told the kids I would still make dinner and anyone who wanted to stop by could.  We ended up with Cameron, Mallory, Madison and her crew, and Quincy all coming over!  I was happy to see them all!  Two weekends of family this way - right?  :)  I am happy about that!

The girls had a pretty eventful day, and Wrenley was done - tired little thing. 

We dyed the eggs and then made deviled eggs.  Wrenley tried to peel her own egg.  Needless to say, that one was not consumed!  :)  She is a wild woman.

Maude didn't get as much outside time as she usually does.  As a result, she was being a turd.  She did have fun wrestling around with Mallory's dogs, and tormenting Wrenley and Evelyn by stealing their toys.  She must have worn her self out playing, because when they left, she finally crashed out!

Jim and I were laughing about her two speeds - super-sonic high, and completely off.  :) 

I have always loved Easter.  I think just in general, I enjoy spring, with babies all over, and green grass and flowers, and warmer weather.  Spring and Easter are about new life, and the promise of better things to come.  To me anyway.  I am always happy to celebrate any holiday with my family, but Easter is one of my favorites.  I was saddened to get up this morning to the news that Pope Francis died.  To me, he was a good pope.  I know not everyone agrees with the Catholic church.  I know that not everyone liked this pope because he had some more progressive views, such as inclusion of gay people, and acceptance of all people as children of God.  There are those, even in the faith who felt he needed to return to the old conservatism of the church.  I disagree, I feel like God is a God for all people.  I feel like Jesus did not stutter when he came here to teach us how to live, and he said over and over again to love your neighbor, love your enemies, turn the other cheek, help the poor, include the marginalized, give your extra cloak to those in need, stop casting stones, stop making a mockery of his father's house, and stop living as a hypocrite.  I always felt like Pope Francis emulated this.  He seemed to send the message to include all people, judge less, love more, help more.  I think that is a message we all need to hear, regardless of religion.  Rest in Peace Pope Francis.