Fun on the farm

Uncle Jerry bought a go-cart last year. Kids were all too small last summer, but they are growing into it nicely. Now, if I could just chill out and let them enjoy it!!
This is the snuggliest cat EVER!!
Andrew's first fish! What could be more exciting???
The pond - great place to hang out for the afternoon!
Everybody caught one - and Alex even caught two! Although, he's pretty sure he just caught the same one twice, but it still counts!!


These are pictures from a recent trip to my folks' farm near Pawnee City. The kids LOVE to go there, mostly to hang out with Grandma, Pa, and Uncle Jerry, but for all this fun stuff, too!

Back to school

Amanda's locker after about the first hour of planning and decorating....I'll have to get an updated picture now that it's finished!
Elementary kids gathering on the first day to sing praises and pray together. Last year I bawled my eyes out through the whole thing...this year I was singing along and snapping pictures.
Jr Sr High Chapel on the first day....Amanda is towards the back in the center.
Andrew and his best buddy Jeremy. For the first few days they get to sit together, but I'll bet Mrs. Garcia will have to split them up soon! :-)

We are off to a great start for our 2nd year of "real school". It is going SO MUCH better than last year!! The kids have been doing a great job of getting up in the morning and all head out with smiles on their faces....and they still have smiles when I pick them up in the afternoon. No tears, no hiding in the bathroom to cry (for kids OR for Mom!), no long battles in the hallway, no visits to the counselor or the nurse....it's fabulous! Alex is a just a whole new kid - he has grown up SO much. Andrew has the same teacher as he had last year and is delighted (not sure if she's say the same thing!), and Amanda is adjusting nicely to the independent world of Junior High. She says she loves all of her classes and all of her teachers. Pretty good, huh?

We are thankful to be living so close now - our schedule is a little crazy! Amanda starts class at 8:00, the boys start at 8:15 and I start at 9:45. I have a break from 11:30 to 1:00 and then finish again at 2:00. Alex gets done at 3:20, Andrew gets done at 4:05 (staying for after school Spanish) and Amanda gets done with Volleyball at 5:30. If I went back and forth for each of those, I would be making 7 trips a day.....SO, I am thankful we live SO close!!! (and so is Molly!)

Backyard Wildlife

Molly and the kitty sitting on the back deck...


Momma and baby turkey....


A turkey that had flown over the fence into our backyard....and then struggled to figure out how to get back out! They really aren't all that smart!!


3 beautiful deer!!



Here are some of the critters we've managed to get pictures of in our backyard. The turkeys are regulars - we see them nearly every day. It has been fun to see the babies now, too! The deer are our favorites, but they only come around about once a week...mostly to snack off of our apple tree! We've got some really cool birds, plus I even saw a fox one day. Our dog and cat love it here the most, though - especially the cat. She is declawed, but spends HOURS outside and just loves it!!

Timber!!!

I got up early on Saturday morning and went to the grocery store....no problem. Was gone just about 30 minutes and came home to find THIS across our driveway! Thankfully, it fell while I was gone and not while I was UNDER it. And, thankfully it fell after I had already left so we didn't have BOTH vehicles trapped in our driveway. And, thankfully we have a very kind neighbor who owns a chain saw and a tractor!!