Friday Again!

It's Friday! It's also sunny for a change! It's time to break out the ice chest, fishing poles and (hopefully) tent! We are going to have a great weekend!

Bee finally got her softball schedule last night and her first game is June 2 in the evening. She's going to have a busy day since Monday is also the first day for the weightlifting she's wanting to participate in. (Hopefully she won't be too sore to swing the bat!)

We also got a call about Josh's first Blastball game which will also be Monday – in the morning. His team is called the Tigers! Monday is going to be a full day!

Mike had a close call at work yesterday. Apparently some of the equipment broke down and he and his boss, Larry, were working on it when a cable snapped and a heavy, solid steel bin fell hitting Mike on the back and nearly knocking him down from his perch about 15 feet off the ground. He has a red mark on his back that almost looks like a burn and he's very sore. He said that if his head had been just two inches to the left, the thing would have hit him in the head. He was VERY lucky.

He's back at work today, working away like a good little dwarf.... (He's Grumpy). The things we do for money.

Activities I'll be doing today: Getting ready for the weekend, grocery shopping, re-organizing my office.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Ok.

Thunderstorms are exciting.

Rain means I don't have to water the lawn.

Cooler weather means I don't have to use the A/C.

But, enough already! I'm ready for warm, summery weather.

I'm having a hard time getting things done with all these clouds hanging around. I seem to be tired and listless. (Josh has even been taking naps!) I'm getting behind with EVERYTHING!

I've made a list, starting tomorrow, of everything I want to get done before the weekend. (I'm hoping we can get out to the lake this weekend!) So, tonight, we'll be having a family meeting over the dinner table to prepare for the activities of the next two days.

I am so thankful I don't live in Seattle! LOL!

Activities I'll be doing today: Um................................... lol.

Memorial Weekend

What a weekend!

We spent our weekend doing some spring cleaning, planting hostas and visiting both the Scott County and Pence cemeteries.

It was quite interesting when we got out to the Pence cemetery since it's surrounded by dirt (mud after all the heavy rain) roads. We almost got stuck once, but persevered until we found a passable road.

When we got to the cemetery, we found that the silk flowers we put out last year were still there, a little worse for the wear. We pulled out the worst of the old ones and added the new ones.

It's so sad to see all the baby graves in that old cemetery. I think there's more babies buried there than adults. There are about four rows of graves, probably forty graves or so in total, and grave upon grave of headstones carved with "baby." We've made guesses as to the cause of all the infant deaths, but haven't gone seeking answers.

There's a lot of gravestones made from sandstone that are now nothing more than lumps of soft stone. No nothing to mark them as anything more than a rock lying on the ground. Someone has set out new stones to mark several of those graves, but they are blank granite stones. Maybe, someday, there will be something on them.

In contrast, the graves in the Scott County cemetery are very well taken care of. And, of course, the newer ones are marked with granite headstones, not sandstone. We placed flowers at all the family graves and were on hand for the ceremony they have every year. I tried to get some video of it, but I only had my phone and it's limit of 15 seconds just isn't long enough. I must remember to take my camera with me from now on.

The weather is insanely cold! 62 for the high today with brisk north winds. I had to turn my heater on today and June is just around the corner! (And they say we're having trouble with global warming?!)

There were several people injured and at least 2 killed in tornadic activity across the state of Kansas over the weekend. Reports of close to 20 tornadoes occurring in central and western Kansas were given on several of the weather sites I read.

Needless today, we didn't attempt camping in this weather.

Josh was a bit upset. He really wanted to go fishing. He hasn't yet had a chance to use his new fishing pole (it's green! – his favorite color) and he really wanted to roast marshmallows. He said, "Now we can't make 'em black and eat 'em!" :O( Poor kid. There's always next weekend...

According to the Farmer's Almanac, the central USA is supposed to have above normal precipitation this summer. Hm... maybe we already reached that "above normal" part. I hope the 4th is clear.

Activities I'll be doing today: Staying warm! Visiting the library, that good 'ole housework and fixing a nice warm homemade chicken noodle soup to warm everyone up tonight.

Yesterday and Today

I ended up spending the day yesterday in Dodge City. A friend called and asked me to go with her to test drive a new truck. We ate at Montana Mike's, stopped by Wal-Mart and Bath and Body Works in the mall and, of course, test drove a truck. (I was the test-rider.)

While we were busily eating our lunch, I got a call from my Mom asking me if I knew we were under a severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch.

Nope, I didn't know that.

So, on the way back we changed our route and tried to avoid as much of the storm as we could. We did a pretty good job going between the rain and hail although when we got within thirty miles of home we began seeing a LOT of storm chasers, gawkers, video-tapers and even the KAKE News van. Not sure what they were all looking at, but I grabbed my phone and took a picture of the area of clouds they were all watching. (See image above.)

We got home safe and sound, no problems. No nothing as far as we could tell.

We got some more rain this morning and lots of wind this afternoon, but at least the sun is shining...so far. (Blog update: The sun didn't last long. We're back in severe weather. Rain, hail, possible tornadoes...)

Mike had an interesting afternoon at work yesterday. He told me the mill broke down and they had to scramble to get everything working again. I'm not sure what exactly the problem was, but he said he had grain pouring down all over him for about 4-5 hours. When he came home he had grain stuck to his clothes and in his hair. (And when I say stuck, I mean it was like cracked wheat that had gotten wet, stuck in his hair and on his clothes and dried. It was a mess!)

When I talked to him earlier he told me they were having the same problems today and his boss told him it would probably be a late night. What a great way to start the weekend.

Well, at least it'll be a three-day weekend. Maybe time for some fishing, camping or at least playing frisbee at the park!

I also, FINALLY, got the plants I ordered from Gurney's and need to get them planted as soon as I can. I ordered a mix of hostas for a total of twelve plants I'm going to line my front walk with. They came bareroot and are sitting in my refrigerator as I type, awaiting their new homes in my front yard.

And now it's back to watching the radar...

The Morning After

Today is the first day of summer vacation so I'm going to let the kids sleep in and treat the rest of this week like a weekend.

Bee told me yesterday that she wants to be in Middle School Summer Weights which will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:30 to 10:00 in the morning and from June through August. This will be supervised weight training and if the kids get a 90% attendance they will get a free t-shirt at the end of the summer. (I wish I could go!)

I'm glad she's going. It'll help keep her busy and help keep her in shape over the summer. Plus, she's very excited about getting muscled! LOL The two coaches are going to have the kids work on their speed and endurance through weightlifting and then their strength (according to the letter sent home from school).

Mike's allergies and asthma have really been bothering him at work. Since he works in a mill where they process all sorts of grain it's been very difficult for him to manage. (He works at Heartland Mill.) The company buys respirators for everyone who needs them, so he's been using one and taking allergy medication and using Primatene Mist inhalers to try to keep things under control. Ultimately, he's going to have to see a specialist, be tested and probably get regular shots.

We have a two-month waiting period for insurance, and since his last job didn't offer insurance, we're going to have to wait the two months for him to see an allergist. Hope he makes it.

It's supposed to rain the next few days (30% chance) so I may be house-bound. So far the day is beautiful and cool, a bit of a breeze (but nowhere near as windy as yesterday, YIKES!) and cloudy.

We had a Kite living in one of our trees last year and I've been hoping and praying we don't suffer that again this year... so far, so good. (In case you don't know, Kites scream... I mean SCREAM starting at about 5 a.m. until the sun is good and up. It gets very old after awhile.)

Activities I'll be doing today: The usual (housework, blah!), running errands around town and trying to keep an energetic kid occupied indoors.

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school.... again. Bee is excited because her class gets to go hiking at the lake this morning complete with a picnic lunch followed by swimming at the city pool this afternoon. We ordered her swimsuit Saturday from Amazon with a two-day delivery so she's a bit nervous it won't get here in time. I'm on call to take it to her when it gets here.

She was showing me all the awards she got at school this year: she lettered in volleyball and basketball, won two awards in art and got an award for quiz bowl. She's kept straight A's all year though some of those A's are A-'s. And she will be in advanced math again next year.

We won't talk about Chris' grades, but he will be in Sophomore Honors English next year. He's also going to take Art II, Beginning Guitar, Algebra II, a history class, Biology I, and a computer class.

Josh and I are going to hang around the house today. He had a fever last night and wasn't feeling well. We're not sure if his allergies are causing problems or if it was something else. He seems fine this morning, no fever. But, we aren't going hiking like he suggested. LOL

Activities I'll be doing today: Laundry, dishes, updating my Flickr account and blog, reading library books and enjoying the sun.

Good Morning!

Well, we started this week off with a lot of activity. We visited the library, did some gardening, shuttled kids to ball practice and promotion activities and waited breathlessly to hear how Mike's new job is going.

Both Josh and Bee are in ball this summer as well as summer reading programs at the library, so we will possibly be busier this summer than we were during the school year! Josh is in Blastball which is what the SRC is calling tee ball and his "games" (really just practice and learning about the game) will be in the mornings on Mondays and Thursdays. His summer reading program is on Tuesday mornings. Bee's summer reading program will be on Thursdays, but we don't know her game schedule yet. She's a bit disappointed as she was supposed to be in the "Junior League", but since there weren't enough girls to sign up she's had to play with the 10-12 year olds. Next year she'll be old enough to be on the traveling league (could be interesting).

Chris is doing... nothing. No job, no activities... He says he just wants to "hang out" this summer. Of course, no job means - me no buy - stuff for him (like Playstation games). And it also means I'm going to be hearing a lot of: "I'm bored..." all summer. Yipee for me! I've already told him I have a cure for "The Boredoms".... mowing the grass, washing the windows, dusting, vacuuming....... I bet you can guess his response. LOL! (Actually, I was really hoping he'd ask to take a summer art class.)

Josh and Mike are going to build a bug for the summer reading program. They're going to try to win the prize for "Most Creepy Bug" and they can build it out of anything they want to build it out of. Josh has already decided he wants to build a spider. So, it's going to be a creepy one! (I'll be looking up craft ideas for this one.)

Josh asked us the other night "why do we have skin?". An interesting question for a four year old. He has an inquisitive mind. LOL

Activities I'll be doing today: Vacuuming, dishes, laundry, dusting, Storytime at the library, figuring out something for supper, refereeing kids and dogs and watering the grass before it dies!