Sunday Funday

You know you have exhausted your kid when she falls asleep mid-cookie!

We had a good Sunday. It was the annual St. Patrick's dinner after mass. Jim, the girls and I all had jobs to do. There was an excellent turn out and I did not think the line would ever end! We had plenty of food, and it was pretty good eats t0o! While I was working, Mallory fed the little ones and the boys, and then they wanted to know if they could walk over to the park. That sounded like a wonderful plan to me, and so I sent them off. When they got back, I felt a little bit guilty however, since the temperature had apparently dropped and it had gotten very cold! Harper's little hands were frozen, and Quincy had worn a light jacket! One more example of kids not noticing that it is cold/hot outside! Quincy even told me that she 'was not that cold!'
After the dinner, my new nephew came visiting! He is such a doll and the girls were very happy that they were home when he was here this time! We all got a bunch of baby snuggle time! Harper was still not nice to him, and I joked with Sam that when he goes off to kindergarten and sees her in the halls he will probably start to cry! At least this time she didn't bite him!

And I have to take a moment to brag on my girls. I had to go into work today to finish stuff. I left a roast in the oven, but had not even thought about what to put with it. When I got home, the laundry was done and folded, there were vegetables and warm banana muffins to go with dinner, and the house cleaning that we had started, was finished. I really appreciate them!

Jim and Colin were out burning more this afternoon. They met our closest future new neighbor and I think that the neighbor is going to help with some of the burning....which is good, that way he is involved if we burn too close to his house! I am also glad that Jim chose to take Colin today, as my legs still feel 'sunburned' from yesterday's fire adventure!
It is now snowing - which to me is totally depressing - I saw the tulip and daffodils poking out of the ground - it is spring darn it!
Dear Winter - please pack your stuff and go back to the North Pole where you belong....we are done with you for the season.

And lastly, I can't help but say a couple of extra prayers tonight - one for my grandma who I am told is deteriorating rapidly. I don't like the idea of facing life without her, but I don't want her to be in pain.
The other is for the people of Japan...and I keep wondering about Shiori (our Japanese exchange student from a couple of years ago), and hoping that she and her family are doing ok. The devastation is overwhelming.

Devine Swine!

Preston and Quincy were most impressed that Willy Wildcat is a swine producer!

I took the kids (except for Colin) to Manhattan to KSU Swine Producer's day. Preston did a great job of filling in for Colin!
They had free donuts, so Quincy was most happy with them...but then they did not bring her out any baby piggies to pet, or any big pigs to play with, so she became unhappy!

I think that we all learned a lot! The one thing that perked up my ears was when the main speaker said when feeding show pigs, feed cost is no object - you simply feed them the best no matter what the cost. I understand what he was saying , but I guess there is still a part of me that screams "these are PIGS - for crying out loud!" Of course, he also went on to say that they should - if they are show pigs - ALWAYS be kept on cement floors with 6-8 inches of cedar shavings under them that is kept dry so they don't tear up their feet....and that for 30-45 minutes a day they should be walked in sand pits to develop their leg muscles, but the walking should be done in the early morning or the late evening because pigs should always be kept out of direct sunlight - especially the white ones. WOW! I was not sure if he was still talking about pigs at this point!!

Preston, Quincy and Harper got a little wiggly during the speaker's talk, so we had to go on a little walk around campus and then out for a little lunch - since I just could not see any of them eating pulled pork in Weber arena without it being a disaster!

The highlight of the trip was of course, a stop at Call Hall for ice cream! I always forget how good that dang ice cream is! I am glad I don't live closer! I also bought farm fresh eggs and cheese curds - love cheese curds - and so do my kiddos and husband!

We finished out our trip to Manhattan with a stop at the Konza Prairie overlook area. It is a really pretty view, but I couldn't help thinking it would be prettier in a few weeks when the grass is greener and the wild flowers are blooming!

While we were off living it up in Manhattan, Jim took Colin to sub-district wrestling. Colin placed 3rd. We have reached that time of the season where you have to place in the top 4 to continue wrestling, so he does qualify to move on to districts next weekend. He tried a couple of new moves today, and they did not work out so well! Jim and I are very proud of him for trying so hard to perfect all these moves and counter moves!

When we got home, the girls watched the little ones so that Jim and I could have what they called "date night" - I gotta work on Jim's idea of dating I guess...we went out to our land and burned the waterway and the ditch next to the road. We probably should have had better fire fighting equipment - as the fire got a little further out than we planned and we ended up having to stomp it out. I think I will be needing new chore shoes! The good news is that I won't be needing to shave my legs for quite some time!

Preston reported to me that Quincy and Harper do NOT know the proper use of a dump truck! Putting people in the back is dangerous! So true!

mmmmm applesauce!

Our little darling refuses to let me feed her! She MUST do it HERSELF!

So I can either cry or take photos right?

Luckily, applesauce washes right out of clothes!

We are gearing up for a fun weekend! I am taking all the kids except Colin to KSU Swine Day tomorrow.

Jim is taking Colin to sub-district wrestling.

Everyone is excited to get to go someplace - but Preston is hands down the most excited because he has been told that we can venture to Call Hall for ice cream while we are at KSU! He is so excited he can hardly stand it! Cameron is hoping to run into Frank Martin so that he can give him some pointers before the NCAA tournament starts!

Colin started track practice today. He is not sure what events he wants to try out for, but he is leaning toward some distance running. Of course, since it was the beginning of the season, I had to go to the obligatory parent meeting tonight. These meetings are one of my (many) pet peeves. I just don't understand why I have to have someone tell me that if my kid does drugs, or drinks, or misbehaves at a meet, they will kick him off the team. And if he is ineligible then he will not letter. These things seem like common sense to me, and I do not like to have to sit in a meeting for common sense! They also mentioned that the track uniforms should NOT be ironed. Yep, that was crucial information for me - considering I have no idea when the last time I used an iron even was - although I suspect it might have been 1984 when it was cool to starch/iron your shirt collar so it stood straight up.

Curly

Cameron had a part in the 5th grade musical tonight. He was one of the judges in a trial, and the judges were the 3 Stooges. The Stooges were wearing robes - because they are judges - get it? He thought it was hilarious!
He has practiced, watched old Stooges movies, learned the finer art of nuk nuk nuk, and woob, woobing, and was super excited to present the musical tonight!

I have to say, as 5th grade musicals go, this was really good! And Cam was extremely animated, and all the practice he put in was very apparent!

We did have to come home and cut the rest of his hair tonight though. I took the kids to Mass at 7:00 am so that we would be free this evening for his performance. When I dropped him off at school, the secretary was going to write him up for having an "extreme haircut" she let it slide ONLY because it was for the musical...but she said he had to cut it and not come back to school with it like that on Thursday. I bet there are plenty of old men in the world who would take exception to it being called "extreme"!!!!

It was totally worth the haircut warning, to see my guy do such a great job!

This was overheard this evening -

Mallory: QUINCY! Don't say that, you are very inappropriate!

Quincy: Well YOU are very short!

Yea, she is going to take over the world!

Today was the first day in a very long time when my Harper girl seemed back to her happy, sweet self! She played, ate and was independent of my shoulder! It was absolutely wonderful! I had been very worried.

Also going on in our lives, my grandma Shirley is very ill. Cancer is winning the battle. She is not going to take any more treatments and I don't believe that she has a lot of time here with us left. I am sad for us, it will be a huge void in our lives. I don't want her to suffer, and I know that grandpa will be very happy to welcome her home.

50 years

Jim's parents celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary yesterday with a little party. I think they had a good time, and it is nice to see that people can stay married for 50 years this day in age - a nice thing to be able to show our kids.

If we sit here and stare at the cake long enough, someone will surely let us have a slice right?

Jim and his brother.

Quincy even got to drink from a glass! (brave folks they have there at Alvamar!)

Harper was better enough that we felt ok taking her yesterday, but she mostly laid on either Jim or me...but at least she wasn't crying all day! Today, she seems much better! She has not randomly thrown up for a few days now and even though she has a runny nose, I really think that is from cutting more teeth. She was cheerful and playing today, so I take that as a sign that she is on the mend! At least I hope so because we never seem to stand still for very long!

Cam's last b-ball game

Cameron had his last game of the season this morning. His team played for the Championship - and they ended in a tie. Having Jim's highly competitive nature, this went over like a lead balloon! I do think that they had a great season, and Cam scored 16 of the team's 24 points today, so he really played well! He is pretty hard on himself, and could not see that he was not solely responsible for them not winning! I also think that Jim did a great job with these kids and had a good time!

Harper is still sick. She has not been randomly vomiting for a couple of days though, so I think that we have a bit improvement! We have discovered "clementines" and all the kids really love them. She has not been eating very well, but she did eat these little oranges - which I think is good - vitamin C? She has really been very clingy the past couple of days, and just wants someone to sit in the chair with her and her blanket! I hope we see improvement soon because I think we are now caught up on movies for the past 5 years! I am thankful that Madison and Mallory were willing to sit in the chair with her so that I could get a hair cut and watch Cam's last game this morning! I hated to miss that!

Colin attended wrestling camp today too...it must have been hard because he came home exhausted! He is getting ready for post-season tournaments. From now on, he will have to place in the top 4 in order to keep wrestling. He goes to sub-districts next week.

The conversation of the evening with Princess Q:

Mom, is Madison's cat a beast? Mom, why are the guys on tv drinking beer? Hey! I want a dog, (breath) I want to wear my fancy shoes to church in the morning, I drank 7-Up and it makes me belch, I am going to sleep with Madison, I have to put on lotion, hey! Dad is snoring on the couch!

That about sums up the evening!

Things...

Things here have been flowing along. Harper is still sick. She has croup, and I am worried about her random vomiting. So today we went to see our favorite guy - the pediatrician. Harper is now on steroids and antacids so we will see if we can get her feeling better. I hope so because I am concerned that this has gone on way too long!

We have all been enjoying the warmer weather. I hope it is here to stay!

Mallory and Madison have sore legs from softball practice! I was laughing at Madison as she reported to me that feeling like an old lady sure does suck! :)

Colin will start track practice next week. He is looking forward to this for reasons unknown to me!

I am looking forward to the weekend. I could use some down time! Wait a minute - weekend mean down time???? - nevermind back to reality!