Snow Storm 2013

A winter snow storm came through last week and dumped 12 inches of snow on us.  Sunday, February 24th the weather was great.  It was 30 degrees and no wind so we took the kids and hit some good sledding hills.  

 Before we left the farm the kids put on a "snow show."  Garrett doing a little snow surfing.

 Anna displaying her snow surfing skills.

We headed to one of the pastures in search of a sledding hill.  We found a perfect spot.  

Sam

Dad was nice enough to give rides back to the top of the hill.  

The new pooch, Bandit, had a good time chasing the kids up and down the hill. 

Anna

Sam took a ride behind the 4-wheeler.  He was all smiles and giggles.

It was my birthday and this was a great way to spend a few hours in the afternoon.  The weather was great! The kids were having a great time and Mom & Dad even took a few rides down the hill.

Today is Monday and we are still out of school.  There is another snow storm but this one turned out not so bad for us.  With any luck we will head back to school tomorrow.

Is he really old enough?

Garrett is playing tackle football.  Out here in Central Kansas we play 8-man football.  The team is made up of 4th, 5th & 6th graders.  So far he enjoys it and his team has been successful at 2-0.

His position is half-back (as if that means anything to me).  I know he plays on offense.

Summer Baseball

One more catch up post from the summer.  All of the kids played ball this summer.  Anna & Sam had their first year of t-ball and Garrett had his last year of coach pitch.  Unfortunatlly it was also Mom's first year of coaching t-ball.  Lucky for my I had too excellent helpers (Kim & Janna).  

Sam is ALL about baseball ALL the time.  We play ball almost everyday.

 Garrett had a great season.  He is looking forward to playing kid pitch next year.

Anna also had her first year playing t-ball.

Council Grove Lake

My kids don't think summer is complete without a trip to meet some friends at Council Grove Lake.  

We try to meet up with 2 of my college roommates and kids for a few days of swimming and staying at Steph's Lake House.

 This year they added a paddle boat.  It held almost ALL the kids.  The baby stayed on shore with the adults while the rest of the kids paddled around.

Anna & Blake

Garrett

Sam is up to no good!

Baby Rebecca

Sam & Rachael

Steph & Blake taking the big boys out for a tube ride.

We usually celebrate Rachael's birthday at the lake.  She turned 3!

This year we did tye-dye shirts.  Jill was the organized Mom who got all the stuff and headed up the activity.

Another new addition at the lake was the Kayak.  Garrett is taking his little sister for a ride.

20 Years...already

So this year marked 20 years since high school.  I have some fond memories of my years at Washburn Rural High School.  Sometimes I wonder how I survived....not because I was crazy but because it is a vastly different educational setting that what my children are now in.

I graduated with 233 students in my class - my kids have 13 and 12 kids in their class.

So here are some of my pals and what our high school looks like now.

 My 2 best friends from high school Steph & Ami.

I know they are a big reason I enjoyed school.

They were (and still are) great friends.

 Here are some of the WRHS class of 92 graduates.

 This is the 1 year old gym at my alma matter.  Wow!

 Here is the football field.  What! I didn't know high schools had turf.

 Here is part of the new addition that is still under construction.

I think enrollment is now at 1800 students.

Steph & I ready for the Saturday night festivities.

Back to School

 Garrett starts 4th Grade.

This year he has his Grandma for a teacher.

 Anna started 1st grade.  This is the biggest smile I could work out of her.  She was a bit nervous for her 1st day.

 Sam the Pre-Schooler was all smiles on his first day.  He will have Pre-School 4 mornings a week.

The kids and I ready for our first day back at school.

Fair Time

As you may recall last year was Garrett's first year in 4-H.  The forward thinker that I am decided we should start with something easier than livestock.  So, with Garrett's input we selected Entomology which turned out to be tons of tedious work.  So this year we turned to what we know and did bucket calves.  

Anna loves all kinds of animals and her calf, Midnight, was no exception.  Fortunately Midnight is a heifer and hopefully will join her Dad & uncle's herd when she is older.

 Dad and Garrett give Bumpy a hair cut before heading out to the fair.

 Anna's calf Midnight also gets a trim.

Dad, Bumpy and Garrett waiting their turn in the show ring.

 Dad, Anna & Midnight waiting their turn.

 Garrett & Bumpy in the show ring.

 Anna & Midnight in the show ring.

 Anna, lover of all animals, is in the sheep pin at the fair.

 Although Sam is not quite old enough to be a Tag-a-long 4-Her he did his share of poop scooping.  Just a guess it was more about moving the manure cart around and not so much about scooping the poop.

Anna with some of our favorite 4-H girls, Emily and Justine.  Unfortunately they have both graduated and moved on to KSU but we know we will see them around.  Thanks girls for your fantastic leadership and your time and patience with our kids.

We're headed to VEGAS BABY!!!!

June 7th marked 15 years of marriage for Joey & I.  I'm not sure how we ever managed to get married that time of year.  It seems to be so busy at the farm so we are never able to do much to celebrate on the actual anniversary.  So in July we spent 3 nights in Vegas with my sister and her husband.  She was going for some work and Gary was going for some fun.  So, what do good little sisters to?  Invite themselves to go along.

 Traveling to Vegas with my sister has some perks.  Since she is an event planner and does a big convention in Vegas every year I found out she can work some pretty good deals.  We went to see the Jersey Boys...for FREE!!!!

 Here we are some where on the strip.  My brother-in-law is fun to travel with.  The guy does not know a stranger and he loves to stop and take pictures for people.  He made one guy really nervous at the pool when he jumped in the water with his camera so he could get a closer shot.

 This is what 15 years of marriage looks like.  Happy Couple!!!  I would not change a thing.  It truly has been a fantastic 15 years.

 This was my idea.  I'm lucky that Gary was along.  He is up for anything.  Gary & I were all about trying to get on the Price is Right.  Kate and Joey rolled their eyes and appeased us by going along.  We didn't make it to contestants row but we were in the front row.

 Gary & Kate

The fun brother in law and my favorite sister (OK, my only sister but she is pretty fantastic).

 Enjoying the city that never sleeps.

 We stayed at the Paris.

While we were gone Anna got to spend a little extra time at Mimma & Papa's with her cousin McKenzie.  Here she is feeding Ozzy in her night gown.