Home sweet home

It’s funny (figuratively not literally) to me how things can change in one week.  Last week, I happily loaded my son up on a bus to Florida.  We had a great time planning spring break activities.  This week, there is a pandemic and the world seems to have gone a little bit crazy.  I am not actually worried about caching Coronavirus, and I am not actually worried that if we did catch it that we wouldn’t be ok.  My worry is that the world isn’t taking it seriously enough and we are setting ourselves up for a catastrophe.   And so the kids and I did our what-if shopping yesterday.  Was it necessary?  We just aren’t sure.  As of right now our county has not called off school, but I believe with all the surrounding counties doing so, we will follow soon.   We have decided to keep our kids home next week regardless of what they decide. We have talked to our kids about self quarantine and social distancing.   We have used the actual numbers to make these decisions.  Although I often say my dream is to be told to stay home, this was not what I had in mind!   As we spend the next few days or weeks at home, I pray that we can use the time to become closer as a family,  and do some fun activities.   I don’t want my kids to be scared, but I do want them to be smart. 

Welcome home

Madison, Andrew and Evie bought a house today.  We all worked pretty hard to get them moved in today as well, since the weather was beautiful, and the rest of the week isn’t supposed to be.  We still have a little way to go, but the bulk of it is moved.  Far from unpacked, but they have a lifetime to get that done.  I know that the last year was an adjustment.  For them, for us.  I know it’s probably not easy to live with your in-laws.  I can’t say it was bad though.  We are blessed that we were given time to really get to know Andrew, and had a front row seat for our granddaughter’s first year.   They are only a few miles down the road, so I know we will see them often!   I am proud of them!  They have worked really hard this year to make this happen.  I hope they have many happy years in their new house!  

Self control

I took the girls to Lawrence yesterday so we could get a few groceries and some other stuff.  We had a fun day, going out for lunch and shopping.  Then we stopped to get feed at the feed store.   We have zero self control when it comes time for chick days.   Seriously they are sooooooo cute!    We may have left the store with 10 little chickens and 4 little duckies.   Not to mention 3 squealing happy girls.   For those of you who I asked to remind me that adult ducks are messy and smelly.  Yea never mind.   

so far, so-so

Spring break is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation.  So far, ours has not been.  I had a dentist appointment for a bad tooth, Madison is busy packing for their move, Saige is sick, and we haven't done anything very fun as of yet.  Not for lack of trying, maybe today?  :)  

Preston isn't sending much from the spring break band trip.  What he has sent was random, and not really scenic, iconic spring break type photos.  They leave tonight to travel overnight and return home tomorrow evening.  I will be taking his phone and looking at what I hope are amazing hoards of cool pictures of all the stuff they did.  (I honestly don't have much hope here).  I was amused with the whole process on Saturday morning.  The kids were to bring their suitcases on Friday.  Under the direction of the school resource officer, we inspected each suitcase for drugs, alcohol and tobacco.  Saturday morning, the kids were to bring their carry on bags, and their instruments and put them in the gym.  They then brought in a drug dog to inspect all of the bags going on the trip.  Since I am on the board, I went in to watch (I was excited because I have never seen a drug dog at work before).  The dog did his thing, and then the kids came and collected their stuff.  The board members then helped the bus drivers load everything under the buses.  I was so happy because when we got done, there was even extra room!  We are experts at packing buses by this point!  We were patting ourselves on the backs as the bus started to pull away.  They got maybe 10 feet and stopped and a few kids got off the bus.  The drummers forgot all of the drum sets and percussion equipment.  Needless to say, we had to do some re-arranging and there was no longer extra space!   They did make it safely, and I was able to watch the live stream of their performance at Universal yesterday.  They had enough equipment to make the concert sound pretty good!  :)  

This kid Preston is holding up is Dakota.  When Dakota was a freshman, he traveled with senior Cameron on a band trip to Texas.  Cameron pretty well tortured the kid, making him pose in some rather embarrassing pictures, getting him to wear a speedo, and other random hazing.  Dakota didn't forget, and he told me it was retribution time - paying back Cameron by making sure Preston was the freshman victim.  Cameron thought this was a great arrangement.....Preston didn't seem as excited by it!  :)  In all honesty, you won't find a nicer kid than Dakota.  So far, I don't think his retribution has caused too much trauma for Preston!  

The photos that Preston has sent home are things like "this is my boy - bus driver Dan."  Uhhhh, while I can appreciate that Dan drove them to Florida safely, I spent a lot of money on this trip, spent a ton of man hours running fundraisers, and helping the band director plan things.  This wasn't exactly the kind of  photo I had been hoping to see.  

Luckily, I have 2 friends who are sponsors on the trip, and they are doing a wonderful job of taking pictures of the kids, live streaming the concerts, and keeping the parents updated.  I am thankful for Lizzy and Becky!  

Bring on break!

The kids (including Mallory and Madison) are excited because today is the last day of school before spring break.  I think it seems early, but it falls in line with what colleges are doing, so we are going with it!  It has been an interesting week.  Not as much going on, but we still don't seem to be able to stay home!  We are busily gathering stuff for Preston to pack for his trip to Orlando.  He is excited because in addition to the master class they are taking, they were selected to play at Universal!  He is playing in both the whole band performance, as well as a smaller select group.  He is looking forward to the trip.  I am looking forward to hearing all about it (as well as not thinking about all the stuff he needs to take any more!).

I know I posted this on facebook, but I wanted to save it here too.  This little girl definitely has her appetite and happy personality back!  She is stealing pickles and making us all laugh!  Madison and Andrew are supposed to close on their house next week.  I think it is safe to say while we are happy for them, we sure will miss having them around all the time.  Luckily, this move is only 10 miles away, not hundreds like the last time they moved!

Saige's teacher helped them make these adorable Mahomes handprints.  She was pretty excited that they finally got to bring them home!  She is an art loving girl for sure!

I have been looking for a farm house table for my dining room, watching auctions and yard sales, because I am a tight wad like that.  Preston volunteered to make me one in his shop class this semester.  I readily agreed because then I could get exactly what I was looking for!  He sent me a picture this morning to show me his progress.  I like it so far!  It is exactly what I had in mind!  I still have to watch auctions for chairs, but if you know me at all, you will know that auctions make me incredibly happy, so it isn't really a struggle!  :)  I can't wait to see how this turns out!  Preston doesn't love his shop class, but that is because he doesn't have any friends in there.  He said as long as he is busy, he doesn't mind it.  Knowing this, I have made a list!  haha!  

The school does spring photos as a fundraiser.  I never buy them because they are ridiculously priced.  This year's photos cracked me up!  What the heck Quincy!  You don't smile like that in real life!  

Harper and Saige both look a little constipated or something!  They are growing up so fast, and the definitely make me laugh.

We also found out that my brother will be having open heart surgery.  We are keeping him in our prayers for a quick and full recovery.  My brother Eric has the worst luck of any person I know.  All the progress they have made in recent years of being able to do the surgery through a vein, or laparoscopically, and he loses the genetic lottery and has to have the old fashion crack open surgery because he is missing a heart valve.  I know it will be a long recovery, but I am thankful that it is something they can fix.  If you are the praying type, he could use a few!  

some stuff

Cameron ran for re-election to the Kansas State University senate, and was elected.  He is pretty excited about continuing that!  We don't see him super often, but he does send me a lot of random photos and face times often!  He is pretty funny!

You can always tell when it is officially spring in Kansas, as the prairies glow!  The kids were pretty concerned about this particular fire, as it looked a bit larger than the rest!   I assured them it was not out of control, but they weren't convinced.  Harper took pictures out the car window!  :)  

The 4-H co-leader and I decided we should try something new and have a few theme nights thrown in to the meetings.  Last night was the first one with Hawaiian night.  What we did not anticipate was there being family night at the school before the meeting.  We only had a handful of participants.  Maybe the next one will have less going on!  Since Cameron no longer lives with us, our costume department is definitely not as good as it once was!  

The 4-H kids decided not to go on to regional club days, and although it might not make me the best 4-H leader in the world, I was secretly very happy with their decision.  Preston and Quincy start track season, we are gearing up for some changes in our house, we need to do goat shopping since we didn't have as many babies as we need.  Spring break starts this Friday.  It seems so early, but we are excited about time off.  I told the girls they could make a list of things they would like to do (Preston is going to Florida so he won't be home).  I was amused with the things Saige put on her list.  Go to Small Cakes, make monster cookies, play with the dogs, and go visit Colin in "witch-ita"  She is at least easy!  I haven't seen the lists from Harper or Quincy yet....I am sure they won't be easy on me!  

Finale day

Sometimes, when things get busy, I admit that I have little mental countdowns to when it will be over.  I was happy Saturday, because we would finish the model meeting, and thus Sunday afternoons would be more free, since we would not have to practice anymore.  It might not be the best policy of parenting, my mother would accuse me of  "wishing the time away."  I do enjoy the kids, and I do enjoy their activities, but I also love me a good Sunday afternoon to get things caught up!

Anyway, the kid's model meeting group had their performance on Saturday morning (early).  I surprised the kids with new shirts.  I loved how they turned out, but Quincy told me they were "cringy."  I am not sure the exact definition of cringy, but I am sure it means something positive, after all the shirts are awesome!  

The performance did not go real well.  They forgot stuff, missed a few things, and dropped some of their parliamentary procedures.  

I am still very proud of them, they tried really hard, and you can't fault them for putting themselves out there and trying.  

They ended up getting top purple.  I was very surprised.  

Some of the kids can't attend regionals, so we are discussing whether they move on or not this evening.  It is an honor to be selected anyway!  I personally know of  3 girls who do not want to move on!  We will see what happens!  

How bad could it have been, they got ice cream afterwards!  :)  

After the model meeting, we dropped Quincy off at work, and went on to watch Saige play in her last 2 basketball games of the season.  I feel like this has been a really good experience for Saige.  She has learned a lot, and improved a lot.  I even saw some aggression on the court this time!  

This is the aggression I was happy about, and I might point out that although it looks bad, she actually did not hit that girl!  :)  

With those 2 games, her season is finished.  She told me she might want to play again, which she had been saying she would never play again!  So maybe she had some fun after she figured out what was going on!  
We were also very happy that Evelyn got to come home from the hospital.  She is like a different kid now.  Playing, happy, eating, and back to the old Evie!  It was such a relief to see her doing ornery stuff again.  I will happily let her pull every canned good out of the cabinets if she will just keep smiling that sweet smile at me!