Weighed in

The small animal weigh and tag was this morning. The kids had various other activities, so Harper, Quincy and I loaded the goats up and took the 7 babies to get this season off and moving!

Harper just got her goat for showing and selling last night! She named him Lou, and today he weighed 48 pounds! She has her work cut out for her, he is pretty stubborn and seems a little bit dramatic too! He had his tongue hanging out and was crying like a fool! She is so excited! She also purchased Gerty from Cameron. (He is such a sweet brother he sold her the goat for 5 packages of pudding cups!). Her 4-H career is up and running!

Cameron and Preston's wethers weighed 25 pounds each. Halfway to sale weight. We are going to have to push them to make it! Ed (Quincy's) weighed 39 pounds. I sense a lot of feed purchases in my summer plans! Sale weight is 50 pounds. I love this project and am happy to have a little goat family in my yard!

Busy (but fun) Friday

The high school band had their year end concert last night. The tuba quartet was certainly different. Not sure I can say that I am a fan of tuba only music!

The whole band and the jazz band both performed. It was awesome as usual!

Cameron won the character award. This award is given for motivating the band, and for being a leader in keeping up morale.

It was a good concert, but I am happy after 3 weeks of Friday concerts to reclaim Friday evening!

Yesterday afternoon was Harper's school playday. She had an amazing time! Saige and I had fun watching! She said the best part was throwing water at her teachers!

Photo dump

I have been having some trouble with my old ap for boogging. Trying something new.

A Long Rainy Weekend

 It was one of those weekends where all the plans got cancelled due to the weather.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, forcing a little time at home is always welcomed by me.  Quincy's end of the year band concert was not cancelled however!  Her band sounded great!  It is especially amazing when you realize these kids have only been playing for about 9 months.  The director probably deserves a medal or something!  Quincy does a good job on trombone, and I am proud of her for practicing and trying hard to learn.  I think band is a true bright spot in her day.

 These two - of course they would pick the same instrument!  Would never want to be apart right?  :)  When the concert was over, I could not find Quincy anywhere.  She was outside, and her and Landrie were playing trombone music in the parking lot!  They forgot to put out the donation cups
though!

We spent a great amount of time working around the house.  The kids were kind of growing weary of my ideas of projects to get done.  We actually accomplished some stuff that I had been meaning to do for a while now.  My list was longer than the attention span of these kids though.  I finally let them take a break and we went to look at the creeks and ponds around the neighborhood.  Since it was still somewhat raining, we were limited on our outing!  Luckily, I had forced them to clean so much, that even a drive around the countryside seemed like a treat!   

 They enjoyed seeing the low water bridge flowing over the top, and even listened to my lecture on flood water safety.  I had a hard time getting Quincy out of there, as there was a family fishing and she wanted to stay and see what they caught!  She also was sad she didn't have a pole in the car!  I guess we better get our van packed back up for summer activities!

Even though the weekend did not go as we planned, I truly enjoyed having time to spend with these crazy little people!

Rounded up

 Today was our last official kindergarten round up!  Saige is pretty excited about going to the 'big school' next year!  It is a tiny bit cruel to have kindergarten round up in April, get them all excited about school and then say 'see ya in August!'  She thinks she starts kindergarten next week!

 I can't believe that she is even this old!  The past 5 (and even the past 10) years sure have flown by!  I guess what they say about not blinking is true!  I have had kids at home or in my office with me for 21 years.  I think next year will be an adjustment for me as much as it is for her!  I am a little bit sad about losing my sidekick, but also a little bit excited about the idea of having 2 hours to myself next year!  I don't remember the last time I had alone!  :)

Now if we can manage to get through the barrage of end of the school year activities, I will happily move into summer mode!

Cameron Stuff

 Cameron is a busy guy.  He participated in a track meet this week, where he took second in pole vault and set a new personal record of 9'.  He said he was close to clearing 9'6".  He also took first place in the triple jump.

 Last night was recognition night at the high school.  Cameron got some mic time.  Always questionable on if this is a good idea or not.  He did a very nice job though!  He was the current FLBA president, and handed the job over to himself for next year!  :)

 He also got recognized for his FBLA accomplishments this year, and got recognized in the KAY organization as well.  Because the dome photo quality is terrible, I told him he had to pose afterward for some better  pictures.  Of course, his boy Otis has to be in the pictures - we wouldn't know what to do without Otis!  I did crack up when the custodian photobombed them!

This particular custodian was Cameron's bee mentor back in his beekeeping days!  He legitimately likes Cameron!  The feeling is mutual.  It was a good night.  Cameron is making the most of his high school experience and I am so glad.  It is good to be involved, active and not causing any real trouble.

Big Kid Stuff

I feel like I have neglected mentioning all the big kids lately.  They are up to great stuff.

 This kid is close to finished with his freshman year of college.  He is on the deans list, and has learned to drive a semi truck as one of his electives this semester (although he still has to pass the driving portion of his CDL test).  He has decided that he wants to be finished with college wrestling, but he says it was a great experience, and he is so glad he did it.  He has made a lot of great friends!  He has decided to transfer to K-State next year, and major in civil engineering.  I am proud of the work he has put in, and the decisions he is making.  Now if we can finish getting all the paperwork submitted, he will be an hour and a half closer to home!  :)  Plus EMAW!

 This kid is 3 weeks away from finishing the bakery and pastry program at JCCC.  She has thoroughly enjoyed this program, and is sad that it is ending.  She is currently looking over job options and deciding where she may want to move to for her first big kid career job.  She has a lot of decisions to make in the next few weeks, but I am sure she will handle it with the same enthusiasm she always does!  I am proud of her for perusing her dreams!  And if I was being completely honest, her living at home does not bother me in the least.  She is an amazing cook and a huge help in the household/chauffering kid duties!

 Despite not being elected as the state president, this kid was elected as the local chapter of FBLA president.  He is busy trying to plan activities and functions that will increase the membership to over 100 members (a goal that has not been accomplished in a good number of years he tells me).  He is also planning out his summer which includes a trip to Anaheim for national FBLA, and planning to attend Masonic band camp again this summer.  I am proud of the stuff he takes on and handles with minimal effort required on my part!

And last but not least, this kid is finishing her junior year of college.  She has dreamed of becoming a teacher since she was old enough to talk.  She will be moving home for the next year, as she is doing 2 semesters of student teaching in Topeka, and then she will be finished with her schooling.  I am so proud of her for making her dream a reality, and for the effort and time she has put into the (busy) work assigned by her professors.  She really and truly has done a great amount of work, and kept her grades high enough that most of her college has been paid for with academic scholarships.