Moving Forward

Life seems to move forward at a speed I never thought possible.  Two weeks have passed with nary a post in sight.  We have been at the farm the past couple weeks.

Lots of things have happened. Some marking the milestones of children growing up too fast.  Some fixing the problems life throws our way.  Some to be celebrated.  Some to be mourned.

John is sporting a new set of hardware on his teeth.  He will be a year or so with a metal grin.  So far he has done well with them.  When you see him, tell him your war stories of your own braces if you had them.

John and Emily marked another year.  They are now fourteen.  The teen years are not so unbearable after all.  I love sharing their hopes and dreams and plans for the future.  Where did the days of Playdoh and Barbies go?

Our kitchen cabinets which were damaged by the water leak a few months back were refinished while we were gone.  I am slowly putting things back and getting life back to normal.  Cooking is an adventure when the entire contents of the kitchen are sitting on the living room and office floor in Kroger bags. 

My niece is sporting a shiny new rock on her ring finger.  Congratulations Pat.  She is a terrific girl. 

We also marked the loss of two members of our extended family.  Both will be missed.  We send thoughts and prayers to those most feeling their absence.


Life.


Keep moving forward. 


Right now that means finding the peanut butter so my kids can have some lunch today.

Endings and Beginnings

The guys on the field before a Reds game. 

Grant was unimpressed, but I think John and David both enjoyed the experience.

 

Pirates were playing Reds that night.

A friend of David's is good friends with the Pirates manager and got the passes.

 

 

 

John's season is officially over.

They could not hand the Red Sox two defeats, thus ending their season in second place.

 

 

Second place is only first loser....

unless it involves your son who has worked hard all season.

Then second place is pretty darn good I think.

 

 

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Congratulations to Joselyn and Pat.

 

Wedding bells will be ringing someday in their future.

 

 

May God be with you and bless you;

May you see your children's children.

 May you be poor in misfortune, Rich in blessings,

May you know nothing but happiness.

 From this day forward.

 

 

 

Or something like that!

 

Welcome to the family, Pat.

 

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Off to the farm for a work trip.

Our kitchen is finally being done this week.

 

Deck is about finished.

Swingset replacement pieces are ready to be installed.

The swingset will be the next recipient of a new coat of stain.

This has definitely been a messy summer around here, but it is all progress.

 

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Grant (and a little bit of Grace)

 

 

Climbing trees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flag waving

 

 

 

 

Flag distributing

 

 

 

This is one of the loads of flags we passed out in our neighborhood before Memorial Day.

 

Grant was my helper.

I drove and he stuffed mailboxes.

 

 

There are exactly six hundred houses in our neighborhood.

Of those six hundred I think we counted about thirty houses that did not display the flag we passed out for Memorial Day.

 

We considered it worth the time and effort.

Many people commented how nice the neighborhood looked with all of the flags on display.

 

Some people put the flag back up for Fourth of July.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a few flags left over.

Grace and Grant have been putting them to good use playing with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grant "being a puppy" on the way to the farm.

He and Grace love to hang their heads out the window and pant like dogs.

 

Weird. I know.

 

 

Yes, I took this with my phone while driving down the road.

 

Not much risk of distracted driving causing a crash out there.

I am more likely to miss a curve than hit another car.

 

I don't drive fast enough to worry about doing either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grant getting a closer view of the carwash doing its thing.

Notice the lack of clothing.  I tell you he would make a great K N -E -W -D HI -ST (misspelled on purpose to keep weirdos from looking at my kids online).

St Louis Trip

Our family took the travel trailer to St. Louis a couple weeks ago for a long weekend.

 

We watched a Cardinals ballgame and

enjoyed the new stadium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visited with grandparents and aunts and uncles while we were out that way.

 

 

We also visited a local fun park where it is rumored that one of our relatives is employed.

 

 

Anyone recognize this place?

 

I believe we represented the family well while we were there.

I don't think we did anything too embarrassing.

 

 

I think the bumper cars were the biggest hit of the day.

These were a load of fun!

 

 

 

I haven't seen this game in years.

Joselyn, when you were about four years old you came to visit us.

I took you to a local arcade and you loved playing this game!

 

 

 

Grace loved it too.

 

 

Thank you John and Christy for visiting and for feeding our kids ice cream.

I love when they are sugar buzzed!

 

 

not really

 ;-)

Because I Like It - That's Why

Our new favorite place to play in the creek is at the very back of the property.

When we make the trek to the creek now, we drive past the old-old house

(as opposed to the new-old house which sits near the horses and cows).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is still pretty solid structurally.

 

 

Though I don't foresee anyone occupying it ever again.

I just like it.

 

 

 

It is nothing special.  That's for sure.

 

 

I don't care though.

 

I still like it.

Stuff

I took John to batting cages one evening to practice with his team.

I had all of the kids with me so I took the other three to a nearby Toys R Us.

 

Big mistake.

 

Now I remember why we NEVER go in that store.

 

 

I walked out of there fifty dollars poorer than when I went in.

Sad, I know.

 

 

Part of the "I Wants" from Grace and Grant included a toy dog for Grace and something Grant found called Octonauts.

 

I had never heard of them.

Neither had he before we entered Toys R Us that night.

 

 

But by the time we were leaving, he was sure he would meet a certain death if we left the store without purchasing "just one" for him.

 

 

 

 

Since then he has used his own money along with some cash he has suckered his dad out of acquired from selling his old toys.

 

 

These things are his new favorite toy.

Need any ideas for Christmas?

I'll tell you which ones he still doesn't have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three cheers!

 

The pond is full.

It only took six inches of rain in three days to fill it.

 

 

Now if it will stay that way.

Fingers crossed.

 

 

 

Thank you parents for a wonderful family gathering at your house Saturday.

Everyone had a great time.

Hope you did too.

 

 

 

Congratulations on 50 years together.

You have a lot to be proud of with that milestone.

Goodnight!

The Letter B

 

Today's letter is the letter B.

 

 

 

B is for Barn.

 

 

Bye-bye chicken coop.

 

 

 

Barn Before Being Blackened

 

 

 

Barn After.

 

Break in the rain clouds for a Beautiful Bedtime view.

 

Beautiful smile...

 

 

 

Being a Boy

 

 

Best friends

 

Breaking Beans

(oops, actually we're packing jars in this picture!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beans, Beans, BEANS!!!!!

(54 jars to be precise)

 

 

B is for Bedtime.

 

Goodnight!

 

The letter B.

 

 

 

 

A little more updating....

Last weekend we opened the gate between the two cow pastures.  We tried to push the cows into the new pasture, but they were not having anything to do with being herded into that corner by us and we were WAY outnumbered.  We let them find it on their own, and they did.

 

Of course.

 

 

David and I ran over today in the rain to check on them.  They were happily munching away in the new pasture.

 

 

 

 

 

After unrelenting rain the past thirty-six hours, the rain gauge was working its way to the five inch mark for total rainfall.

 

The pond was reaping the rewards.

It is only about a foot below the overflow.

 

 

Sure looks a lot different than a year ago when it was so hot and dry.

 

If you look carefully, you can see the three new bee hives to the right side of the pond against the treeline.  I haven't opened them since bringing them home last weekend. I'm not sure how they are doing with all the rain we have had, but I can't open them up when it is raining either!!

 

 

 

 

John's baseball team is still in the tournament.  They played their first tournament game this week and won easily.  They will play again next week.  It is double elimination, so if they win again they will go to the championship game I believe.

 

In other John news, he got spacers put on this week in preparation for braces next week.

He is not excited.

 

Of course.

 

 

Goodnight again!