Field Trip - Family - Farm

For the final time, I chaperoned the fifth grade field trip to the Kentucky State Fair.

The day was long, but the weather was beautiful!

Having only boys in my group this year

made for a super easy day.

Entertaining boys was as simple as pointing out 

whatever would qualify as "gross" or "weird"

at every stop.

Another fun day in August was

helping Grandpa Simms celebrate another birthday.

We were able to spend an enjoyable afternoon

eating and visiting with family.

And in case I haven't mentioned it already,

we finally painted the barns at the farm.

I really like the look of them all black.

The final phase of farm development

will hopefully take place this coming year.

We have cross fencing and some alleyway fencing to put in.

And then

WE

ARE 

DONE

with the construction work at the farm...

I hope.

Restaurants, Rides and Dorms

I can think of only one thing that would make Grant any happier than this meal at Steak 'n Shake.

A milkshake to wash it down.

Fun at Kentucky Kingdom this summer with big sister.

And that is Grant sliding down the incredibly terrifying blue slide.  And YES the yellow one beside it is also a slide...almost a vertical drop...which our kids are forbidden to slide on.  I would like them to live a few more years.

Can't remember if I posted this before....

This is John's dorm room.

It was pretty barren when we dropped him off in August.

He now has a different room.

His roommate had difficulty managing the newly discovered independence

that comes with college life. 

The freedom led to bad choices

which translated into being a pretty bad roomie.

The university gladly offered John a single room midway through the fall semester.

He was grateful.

And this is Emily's dorm room.

She has one roommate and shares a bathroom with a total of three girls.

It's a pretty sweet arrangement.

Next year she's moving to a college apartment on campus.

She's really excited about that move.

She will share the apartment with three other girls.

Each will have their own bedroom.

And THIS was David's very sad face

as we drove home from dropping the second child at college.

We LOVE our kids.

Seriously.

We do.

Boys' Weekend

Before school started in August, I spent a weekend at the farm chaperoning, supervising and generally trying to keep six boys from bodily harm.

The weekend was spent doing boy stuff like catching crawdads

and playing with stray dogs.

Boys were calling home hoping their parents would gladly

open their homes to a new pet.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that the parents

were not thrilled with the idea.

Grant suggested we keep the dogs.

I said no.

They spent most of the day swimming in the pond

or at the pond fishing.

And by nighttime they were more than willing

to slow down.

Maybe we can make this a back-to-school tradition.

And about the dogs....

Both dogs came home with us. 

We searched diligently for their owner.
Neither dog was chipped,
and no one had listed them on websites as lost.

We brought them to town and cared for them

while we looked for adoptive families.

Once again, I will say God is in every detail of our lives.

How else can you explain the convergence of events

that would put two abandoned dogs at our farm

the same weekend as six boys needing entertained.

And other than a few chewing mishaps,

we got along well with our furry house guests.

We placed both dogs with new owners in less than two weeks.

 New owners took home the short haired dog.

They named him Mr. Dump because he was dumped at our farm.

They obviously possess our animal naming skills.

And this fuzzy bundle of cuteness

went to live with a friend of mine

 His new name is Harvey.

....and they all lived happily ever after!

The End

Motley crew...not Motley Crue

Thanksgiving gathering in Edwardsville -  Aren't we an awesome looking bunch?

 And THIS trumpet tooting guy is John...again.

 Emily took this picture of John at the Thanksgiving weekend game

between UK and U of L.

The game was in Lexington this year.

She said his face was on the big screen several times during the game.

What's up with the cameras loving my boy??

And you will have to ask John or Emily which team won.

Laundry can be a lonely job,

but I have lots of help folding laundry each week.

Jet loves to curl up on the clean piles

which is totally counter productive 

to the goal of having CLEAN laundry.

 Sometimes I get tired of moving him,

so I just pile newly folded clothes on top of my sleeping cat.

He never seems to mind.

 And just because...

here's a picture of Grant 'dabbing' 

while rolling around the rink

at the most recent skating party.