Wright Flight and a party

 Cameron participated in the Wright Flight program through school this year.  The kids in the program set an academic goal for themselves (Cam's was to be on the honor roll) and then they also have to pass a test.  If they accomplish both of these things, then they get to go on an airplane with a local pilot who volunteers his time and plane to make this happen.  Cameron both made his goal, and passed the test, so today, he got to go on a flight with Larry the pilot.  We aren't positive, but we think this is the same pilot that flew with Colin a couple years ago.

 Larry gave them a lesson in the parts of the plane and how each  works to control you when you are in the air, and then they took a brief pause for the moms to snap a couple photos.

 And then they took off.  Cameron said that they flew over to Lawrence, landed and traded the kids around (one was in the backseat).  The pilot let them take a little turn manning the plane, which Cameron said was a little nerve wracking!  They then flew back to Billard airport in Topeka.  Cameron was in the last group of the day, and he was gone a lot longer than the other kids had been.  Cam said that Larry gave them a little fly over of the Kansas River and a few other places on the way back.  He had a great time.

 It is a pretty awesome program.   Cam said he has no desire to be a pilot ever - but he would like to fly again sometime!

 After we got back from the fly day, the kids went to cousin Kyle's birthday party.  It was supposed to be an afternoon of fishing, but it is a bit brisk out,

which doesn't bother my little fishermen in the least.

It was bothersome to my baby cousin though, and so we volunteered to bring him home with us where it is a lot warmer.  My big plan was to get in some baby snuggle time, but little Ryan was just so happy to be out of the wind he fell asleep and is not participating with my plans at all!  Sweet cheeks!  We love him so much!

Believer

Cameron's 7th grade band had a concert tonight.  I had to be a believer because I didn't know anything about the concert before this week.
Jim and I had a fun time watching him perform.  The spring concerts are usually filled with good pop music (mostly old - the 8th grade played Michael Jackson).  Jim was especially happy, since he has always been a Monkees Fan!  I do think that they sounded great!
In the video, you can't see Cam, he is just the elbow right in front of the blue drum!  He is really enjoying playing the tuba this year, and is planning to continue next year (rather than going back to the trombone).  SFT has a very talented band director, who we hope will be around for a long, long time -- we have a few more years of putting kids through his program!  I even overheard someone ask Cameron if he liked playing, and he responded with "YES!  Band is awesome!"  That makes this music loving mom happy!

Summer activities....but not summer weather

 Quincy started softball practice this week.  She was completely excited, but we had a little drama because we can't find her pink glove.  I am sure it is in the storage unit.  We will have to go digging before her next practice!

 They didn't have many kids her age sign up, and as a result she is on a very young team.  She said "well we are probably gonna be bad, but it will be ok because it will still be fun!"  I don't know whether to think this is a positive statement or not.

 Of course, just because she is one of the older kids doesn't mean she isn't easily sidetracked!

Mystery dress.  Harper got this dress in the mail.  We do not know who sent the dress, but it is exceptionally cute.  Harper looked very nice at church this morning.  Thank you to whomever sent it to us!

Preston had a dentist appointment the other day, and our dentist handed him 4 tickets to the KU baseball game for today.  I am pretty sure the dentist would have saved them for a different kid had he known Preston was planning to yell for Texas!  Jim took Preston, Quincy and Colin to watch the game.  They were pretty excited!  Harper said she should go too because she had on her KU dress.  She is so confused!!

Not gonna happen

Well, it would appear that Bank of America rejected our bid from the auction.  I do not profess to know how that is possible, but it is so.  We will not be moving to this strange house in the country.  We are not all torn up about it, but we are a little frustrated that we wasted our time going to an auction that they will not honor.  It makes me a little confused as to how the system works.  Why would they let a house go to auction if they did not intend to let the house sell?  I have been watching the real estate market for quite a while now, and will be interested to see if the house gets listed, and at what price, or if they will just let it sit there and rot?  Either way, I guess we won't be buying it.  We are back to looking.  One thing is for sure, nobody is upset at the idea we don't have to pack again!  :)  Real estate is a fickle bitch.  It would be easy to get bogged down by rejection, by the time consumption that we don't really have, and by trying to decide what we think is best.  We are choosing not to do that.  We are holding our heads high and knowing that God will firmly plant our family where He wants us when the timing is right. 

In nicer news, we are very proud of Colin who lettered as a varsity wrestler his freshman year.  It was not an easy ride, and he definitely worked his rump off this year.  We are also extremely happy to announce that Mallory was elected as the historian of the National Honor Society at Santa Fe Trail High School.  She is excited about the opportunity and is also excited about having a reason to scrapbook with someone else footing the bill.

Sunday Funday

 Mallory ran a few errands, and when she came back, she noticed this was taped over our 4-H yard sign.  She and I got a pretty good laugh at Quincy and Harper's idea of a "fundraiser"  there was plastic bowl under the arrow.  The sign says "please put money in" except Quincy hasn't mastered the finer art of spelling yet!  We noticed that nobody had stopped to give them any money either!  :)

 Sometimes it is nice to have a day to just 'be' which is exactly what we did today.  The big girls had to work, but the other kids and Jim and I were home.  We had a nice day of getting caught up and I actually am proud that the laundry was completely done for a moment.

 Apparently when you are busy doing laundry, children don't get their faces wiped though.  I want it on record that they went to mass clean this morning!!  :)

 Cam drug out the grill and cooked up a nice dinner.  We had chicken and  polish sausage after Mallory and Madison got home.  It was very good.  Cam got the grilling done just in the nick of time before it started to rain!

 Saige's hair.  It has issues.  For one thing, there is a ton of it.  And she loves to have you fix it, but she will not leave the pony tails in.  The more times you fix it, the crazier it gets.  She has mastered the messy look!

 Jim, Colin and Cameron did sneak in a fishing trip to our pond today.  They had a great day and caught a lot.    I say sneak in a trip, because Quincy always wants to go and they were also doing a little bit of work.  Jim didn't want her to get hurt while they were sawing stuff up.  She can go next time.  She definitely has the fishing bug right now!

In looking at this yard, I am convinced that more space is necessary!  We are still waiting on the bank to approve our auction bid.  I was told on Friday that it sometimes takes up to 14 days.  I am not clear on if that is calendar or business days.  I know it is not in my hands, but I am just not a good waiter!  I am sure we will hear something soon.

4-H stuff

 We have been busy between moving, waiting for the bank to give us the go ahead on the auction we won, and trying to keep up with the kids, I haven't spent a lot of time blogging lately.  The kids' 4-H club spent a day with the residents at the nursing home.  They did some singing, dancing, reciting poetry and random other things and then had refreshments with the residents.  The kids and the residents all enjoyed it I think.

And it begins...

 Colin played in his first high school baseball game on Tuesday night.  It was ridiculously cold, and we nearly all froze to death, but we had a fun time watching him and sipping hot chocolate!

 He played right field, and did a great job at bat.

 His team lost the first game and won the second in the double header.  The freshmen didn't get a lot of playing time in the first game....seems to me, in my unbiased opinion, that they did better when the freshmen were in the game!!  :)

I am not baseball's greatest fan (a sadness Jim can't really overcome) but I do love to go watch if my kids are playing.  However, if we are going to sit at the ballpark, it is supposed to be hot!  I keep reminding myself that summer is coming, but it would seem that mother nature is bi-polar and can't make up her mind!