Just Bopping In..

..to say yes, we are still alive.

A lot of our life seems to be taking place in a vehicle at the moment. Football is dominating our life..GO WOLVES!! ..I knew this year would be like this, with one in high school, one in Jr High. And I LOVE watching them play, but man oh man..these 2, sometimes 3, games a week are wearing me out. Not so much the games, but the planning ahead, needing to get off early some days, needing to do laundry/clean/shop for the next day stuff that comes with the football game evenings.

This weekend found me out of town both days. I feel like I need a day off to recover from my days off.  Saturday we took a road trip to get some groceries and some new clothes.  Jacob had out grown all of his jeans. (sigh)   And the cupboards were BARE! We saw 2 out of 3 of our nieces and nephew that live up there, and Jacob ate buffalo for lunch.

And Sunday found me up and out the door to head to Wichita to see the Broadway musical on tour, The Lion King.  While I had always wanted to see something like this, its something I would have NEVER gotten my men to go to, nor would have I spent the money to go by myself, so I was happy when my friend, Melanie, brought it up. It was everything I hoped it would be, and much much more. It was AMAZING.

I really enjoyed girl talk with some great girls, some good food, lots of laughs, and a little bit of shopping. I was able to snag up two owls that  begged to go home with me!  I've always loved owls. They remind me of my grandma, who collected them, and its a lot of fun right now to be an owl lover..they are really popular and EVERYWHERE! The brown guy I got on sale, (whoohoo!) and the other one I found tucked on a shelf at this awesome antique mall we went to.

This week will find us a football games, and this weekend will kick off our fall show season. Let the fun begin!

Have a wonderful week.

My Boys of Fall

Its that time of year again! Football season. And living with a house full of boys, I've come to just come to accept the fact that the bigger the bruise, the higher the hi-five.

Tristen is sporting jersey number 80 this year.

He was SO excited to look out and see Michelle sitting with us. Her college is only a half hour from where his first game was at. She and her boyfriend showed up to surprise T. 

Jacob is playing his first year of high school ball. I had a funny teary moment at the first game. Every one lines up, the drums beat, everyone claps and screams as the boys run by.  I looked around and was like what the HECK am I DOING HERE?? Do I REALLY have a kid out there playing BALL???

Fall means bonfires...

..and pep rallies.

 Jacob is rocking jersey number 86.

I did get some pictures of Jacob playing in the game, but my camera just stinks at taking night time sports pictures. *sigh*

 Anyway, both boys teams won their first games, with the high school team beating a huge rivalry 0 to 50 or something like that.

Another fall "thing" going on around here is hunting season. Jacob has been out dove hunting, and his really anxious for deer season to get here. 

He's been out several times and has got a nice little stash of dove in the freezer.. He doesn't even think to ask his mom to clean them. HA!  He just does the job, and gets them put away in the freezer.

And this guy wasn't as lucky, but is just happy to be out sporting the orange after completing his hunters safety course a couple of weeks ago!

September is finding us running our tail ends off, with at least 2, sometimes 3, football games a week. We also have something going on every single weekend this month. We decided to skip the showing part at the state fair this year, but the boys are both sending 4-H items--T's Monster Jelly, as well as his peanut butter cake, and Jacob is sending a photo. 

Fall is HERE! 

Tristen's Harvest

My boy grew PEANUTS this year and harvested today!! They could have grown for few more weeks, but he just decided he wanted to see what was going on under that dirt! . We peeked at fair time, and there were teeny tiny little peanuts just starting, so we had hoped they had grown! They sure had!

He was pleased with what he ended up with, and will probably plant even more next year. It was tons of fun and he will have something different and interesting to write about in his 4-H record book for horticulture! We will dry them for a while, and then roast them. YUM!

And She's OFF!!

The little sister has officially and safely landed at college.  Saturday found us on the road, with Danny following behind to carry up all the luggage..I mean,...to bring me back home...;).  We were about half way there and ran into a thunderstorm. It was welcomed, because we knew it meant we would get rain at home, but the closer we got it to, the more nervous we became. Suddenly it was dark and the wind picked up. Both of Michelle's hands went on the wheel, she sat up a bit straighter and I started paying more attention to the road. At one point it got so bad she had came to a crawl on the highway, so I told her just to pull over and wait for the rain to let up a little.  It did, and Danny called and asked if she would feel more comfortable with him leading the way in front, so that's what we did.

9:30am. It was DARK!

I did not have any problems leaving her. The environment is crazy and wild, and she will fit in just perfectly. She seems excited, makes friends super easy, and her boyfriend is going to the same college.

Chelle unpacking and Dan thinking maybe going back to college wouldn't be so bad. ;)

 I learned that there's nothing quite like a bunch of college kids to make you feel like a prudish old lady. I was more than happy to come back to my quiet little town and family.

After leaving her, Danny and I had a nice lunch, stopped at a few pawn shops and flea markets before heading home. Sometimes I forget just how nice it is just be with each other and do something random.

This weekend found us with a million little projects that need to be worked on.  The boys have KSRBA Royalty Applications to finish up, 4-H record books need to be started, rabbits needs to be gone through and sorted, my kitchen makes me cringe, I have 40lbs of peaches that need to have something done with them before they go bad, but I've got a kid at a buddies house, another a hunters safety, and a husband attempting to load up a bull to take to the sale, so here I sit with a cup of coffee.

It will all wait, right?? ;)

I haven't shared any bunny pics for a while, so here ya go! This is Tristen's blue Dutch named Chanel. If all goes well, she will be going to state and national convention this fall. She's got a cute little body on her, with an even cuter personality!

Update--the bull is loaded and off to the sale.  It wouldn't be right unless there was a funny story to go along with this, right?  Well, they had got everyone corralled up in the barn, and then Danny got the bull sorted through into a small pen. The bull started freaking out a bit, going around and looking at each person, outside of  the pen,  until he got to Danny, then he stopped..and just stared.  Uh-Oh. Dan said he grabbed a hold of his panel a bit tighter, looked right at him, and sternly said "NO!". The bull looked at Dan, turned and walked over and got onto the trailer.  =)

Back To School 2012

Yesterday was the first day of school here! I was dreading it, but I'm finding I'm enjoying having a familiar routine again.

Jacob was off to his first year of high school. Holy Moly..I have a freshman.   He heads out the door at 5:30am for morning football practice, comes back around 7, takes a shower, eats breakfast, and heads back to school.  He started a new school, the same his Dad and I both graduated from...=)...and I hope it doesn't take him long to get it all figured out. 

This kid grew 4 inches in a year and is as tall as his dad now.  Insane. I now have to look UP as I point my finger...

 

Tristen headed in as a 7th grader.  He felt much more confidant this year since its his second year of middle school and he knows how things work now.  The only complaint that he has was that "ALL" the girls are taller than him, and he's SURE he will be short FOREVER...because isn't that what happened to his MOM?? HAHA  We assured him his time is coming and he WON'T be short FOREVER. 
.

Waiting on the bus-- the earliest he's been up since the day school got out!

He is playing his first year of MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOTBALL.  This will mean Danny and I will be traveling more, yelling more, and eating twice as much concession stand food this year, as we attend both High School AND Middle School games.

Bleacher butt, here I come!! 
 

Nothing Like New Paint!

I'm not sure if it has something to do with school starting, or if the painting of a room has triggered some sort of "episode" for me, but I've been on a cleaning and purging spree today.

Danny and Tristen ran to Wichita to pick up rabbit feed..long story...and while they were there, they  bought paint for Tristen's room. Monster Energy GREEN for my Monster obsessed boy.
This lead to the removal of a box full of books, a trash bag of too small-doesn't fit right-doesn't feel right-I just don't like it-clothes, and 5 pairs of  to small shoes. WHEW.

The before with holes mudded. I've always hated this color. I sent Dan to get pick out paint years ago, confidant I didn't want to deal with picking it out, and I was CERTAIN I would like whatever he got. This is what he hauled home. I call it Truck Stop Bathroom Blue.

During. See that handsome guy painting?? Its the FREAKIEST.THING.EVER. He painted the ENTIRE room in a pair of khaki shorts and a good t-shirt, never getting ANYTHING on them. That is just not normal.

Anyway, I know some of you are grimacing about the color Tristen chose, but its really fun, and well, its just HIM.

The after!

 They have plans to make a Monster "M" mural on the wall. Stay tuned for that!!

We also celebrated Miss Hope's 2nd birthday this weekend. I hadn't had much of a chance to see the girls this past few weeks. I was greeted to Hope saying my name to me for the first time. Gecky.  Baby Emily had chubbed out a lot too!!

Miss Emily is starting to be more alert..

..and the SMILES have started!! Seriously, is there anything in the world cuter? I don't think so!

Pa-Pa came to party too!

Check out  E's chubby little tummy.

We are taking this girl to college Saturday.  =(

Tea Party with the birthday girl!! We HAD to try the new princess tea set!

=) Auntie needed more tea.

Tonight finds me a little sad. My guys go back to school tomorrow.  I'm ready for a schedule, not ready for the crazy HECTIC nutso schedule.  I guess it will come if I'm ready for not soo...Let's DO this!

AHH

This weekend a "cold front" hit our area. Meaning, its under 100 degrees. So nice and so refreshing to be outside without that feeling that your guts are being cooked. =P

So today, while the bunnies were happy, we moved a few around, weaned a few litters, and Danny added a few more cages.  They really seemed to be thankful for the cooler weather too, and were bouncing around their cages. It was a nice change and I am hoping this is the start of the break-up of the terribly hot weather.  Wishful thinking perhaps, but we can hope!

THIS came in the mail a few days ago:

Don't know what it is?? Its our catalog for ARBA Convention. We are REALLY excited now!!

Other than watering, watering, and more watering,  and in between praying for rain, it's calmed down here for right now.

 The boys kept busy for a few days writing thank you notes from the fair. Almost 60 of them!

School starts in just over a  week. I'm sad summer is over, and not at all ready for the crazy schedules to hit again.  We have some fun stuff coming in fall, so I guess we should be looking forward to it.

Pray for RAIN!!