What happened to JUNE??

What the heck?? Is it really almost July???  The summer heat is here, and all the work that goes along with it.  The garden is going well, despite the 108 temps we've been having. Its gets a good long drink every night from the sprinkler, but rain sure would help.  Some of my flowers just are not liking it, and it really is seeming to not really matter how much I water them, they are just unhappy. 
As I've talked about before, having bunnies in the summer is a full time job. Tristen hauls his next boxes of week olds in every morning, taking them back out late in the evening when its cooler.  They also take frozen soda bottles out to the moms with litters, and anyone who seems to be struggling. Some of them tolerate is like any other day, others just can not make it with out a little help.  We also run a soaker hose on the roof of the barn. The water cools it, and it keeps the temp about 10 degrees cooler than if we don't run it.

Jake just got back from his first high school football camp. He's been been walking and working hard with his Hereford, Charlie. They are making progress!  He's finalizing his fair entries, and will be taking some of his rabbit jr's  to the fair for their first trip out of the barn. He's a bit overrun with bunnies right now. I think I mentioned ARBA nationals in 2 hours from us this year...oh yes!...and now that we've had litters, they are just going to sit in the cages, and grow up, so we can evaluate and pick the best possible stock possible to enter. 

Its been long summer so far for Tristen, who spends most of his summer days at our local pool. It is closed this year for remodeling, and he's just about to die.  He's finalizing his fair plans too, but things aren't going too well with his heifer, Black Out, who has decided shes going to act like a 2 year old throwing a tantrum and refuses to walk. At all.  We've backed off, and this weekend will be trying something new that was recommended to him: Tying her out, (in the barn, out of the sun!)  and making her walk to water several times a day. Sooner or later, she's got to learn, or at least pretend, that Tristen is the boss. ;)

Air-soft guns are the newest obsession for both my boys. I can not for the life of me, figure out how getting shot with something that leaves red marks all over your body can be so much fun.  Boys are weird.

Dan recently was asked to join the fair board, so this fair season will be a new adventure for him. He's keeping busy at work, as well as all his honey dos and dad, can you's. ;) 

And me? Well, some days its all I can do keep up with everyone and who needs what or who needs to be where. I totally spaced of taking to their hair appointments yesterday, so I seem to be failing! ;)  I had my state daycare inspection on Wednesday. After 10 years of doing this, I still cringe when they come. Its not that I feel as if I have anything to hide, its just that a family lives here, and I think that on a state level, people sitting in their nice quiet offices, forget that at times. Because some days around here, there is  underwear on the floor and some days someone may spill milk on the counter and walk away.  And sometimes, just like you, my fridge needs cleaned out, and I tell my self every day for  week I need to get that done, only to not get it done that day. 
Anyway, enough preaching!!  My inspection went well, only being sited for 3 very minor things: I need a child proof lock on one of my utensil drawers, a outlet cover was missing in my basement, and I had dishes in my sink from lunch...they came right after lunch, BTW. ;-)

I'm going to end this post with some pictures.  Last weekend I took some pictures of my brother and his little family..which is about to grow by one any day. It was fun!. I had several favorites, which I should post sometime after they see them,  but here are some that I love, and very much captures little Miss Hopes 2 year old self right now.  Probably won't be framed for the wall, but they make me laugh!

Oooo..wait a sec..I got a boogie...

Eww! Gross!

Now, what where you saying?

Stoned

On and off past 5 years or so I've been dealing with kidney stones. Never had one?  Its great fun. Almost like childbirth when its at its worst, but when you have a baby, you get a baby. Not some freaky alien you get to flush down the toilet.

Last week, I felt that familiar pinch pain starting.  Pain got bad, but passed and I was pretty sure I had passed it.  But I've continued to feel like complete junk so I headed back to the dr today. After lab work and some x-rays it was determined I have ANOTHER stone in the OTHER kidney.  Also at my visit I learned that this weird rash I keep getting around my mouth and on my eyes is yeast. I have a yeast infection in my face.  Seriously.  
I am on prostate meds..yes..you read that right...antibiotics, and now "cream" for my face. Man..I feel like a woman!!  The funk of my chin and the dark circles under my eyes are REALLY bringing out my features.

It could be worse, I guess.

I could be pregnant.  =/*
 

A BUN Filled Weekend

Friday afternoon we headed out to spend the night in Wichita. This is one of our favorite shows. Its a double show, put on by the Sunflower RBA, and the Kansas Rabbit Breeders Association. There are also specialty breed shows Friday night, after set up, so we always head up early.  This show is always big, with ALL of our favorite people attending.

Jacob took a bunch of little Jr's, knowing they probably weren't going to compete with the big dogs. They didn't really, but he did end up getting Best Opposite Variety with one cute little black Jr doe and he received lots of "promising" "just a baby" " and " just needs more development" comments.  The fall show season should be LOTS of FUN!!!
He did win Best Opposite Sex with his little broken buck, Jagger, in one of the shows under Briony Barnes, with 109 Havanas in youth being entered. His friend, Hannah, won Best of Breed.  Hannah is from Oklahoma, and any time she's at a show, you know the competition on the tables will be fierce. She's a wonderful person, as well as a kick butt rabbit breeder!

Tristen took 2 of his little blue Dutch does, as well as a few Seniors.  He didn't place in anything, but got some nice comments about his babies. Again, it should be a nice fall season for him!! Things just need to sit at home and grow.

One of the good things about going up the night before is getting to take your time on things such a grooming.  Here, Tristen is clipping the nails in his blue Dutch doe, Storm.

Rabbit shows are not just about the rabbits. They are about the people and the friendships that mold and shape. This is true for Dan and I, as well as our boys.  Each boy has his own group of buddies they hang out with. Jacob's group is more Havana orientated. Older kids, sitting around, talking shop.  Tristen's group is the group that follows around a 16-17 year old boy.  This boy does magic tricks that boggle your mind, and he's always up to put on a demonstration for the kids.  He also can dance like you wouldn't believe, and they spent hours in the hallway, trying to figure out how to dance just like him.

Crushes can also develop.

 Before we left, Danika slipped Tristen a note that said I love you. She also informed us she is going to be getting 3 tattoos when she grows up. The first will be of a Dutch Rabbit, with Tristen and her names around it, the second will be a RED warthog, and the 3rd one will be of Tristen's picture, with his name. This little girl and her family, are pretty special to us!

Another reason this is one of my favorite shows of the year is the FARMERS MARKET they have right outside! I believe they have this every weekend, but my favorite thing to do during this show during down time is just walk though. Its held in the parking lot, and wraps halfway around the building our show is at.   This time, Danny and I were on the hunt for some local honey. In the middle of the greenhouse sales, gardeners and their beautiful vegetables,  Emu and Ostrich raisers, balloon artists, crafters, bakers, woodworkers, composted poo venders, and farmers, we found some! =)   I also was thrilled to find among lots of other beautiful plants, a gardener selling weird and unusual types of succulents.  I managed to pick only 2 to bring back home with me.

Pure PURE Heaven!!!!


Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!!

Monday, ALREADY??

Summer is suppose to be lazy and weekends are made for catching your breath, but that sure doesn't seem to be the case here at our house.

Saturday, Jake and I headed to a neighboring town, with 2 rabbits in tow, to have them registered, and to see some of our favorite rabbit people.  Jacob got a chocolate doe, Cocoa, and his little broken buck both registered and their legs (Legs are certificates of winnings, for you non-bunny people) sent off, so their grand champion certificates (They need 3 legs to obtain GC status.) will be here in a few weeks. Cocoa had a litter this week, sired by the little buck, so Jacob is excited to have his first litter with a set of GC parents.

Jacob and Danny stayed busy this weekend halter breaking Jakes hiefer. It went really well, and she caught on fast. He even felt brave enough to take her out of the lot for a walk down the driveway. There was a bit of excitement though when she pulled back, Jacob lost the rope, and she took off. She went back down towards the lot, thankfully, instead of towards the highway. 
But, honestly, she's doing better than  Black Out right now, who seems to remember what all this walking means, and is protesting by refusing to move her big ol body anywhere.

The garden is going. Still haven't gotten it completely mulched in, but everything looks good. Tristen also told me that if I don't get it mulched in, he will be sure to keep it weed-eated for me, so I don't have to worry about weeds. hehehe  Things have really benefited from the rains we have received this spring. I am not totally for sure, but I believe we have passed what we got the ENTIRE YEAR last year.

Dan had a bit of "tree trimming" done for him with one of our last storms that passed though. Luckily, it just passed anything in the garden and nothing was damaged.

When we were over getting the buns registered, I was gifted with a huge box of Lamb's Ear. I've been wanting some, but haven't been able to locate any this year.  I have it planted over by the bunny barn now and hope it survives.  The spot over by our bunny barn has always been an issue spot. It used to have 3 nasty old half dead Cedar trees. Dan finally got sick of looking at them,  ripped the out, and I had been planting herbs there. The space is filling in nicely now on the sides, but the middle of it is pretty bare. I need to work on that.  I have planted Golden Rod, Lavender, Parsley, Spearmint, Basil, and Butterfly Weed.  I'm thinking I'll just transplant some of those to the middle, so it can fill up.

Have a wonderful MONDAY!!

A Different Post

I don't post a lot about personal things. Sometimes, though, you just get that nudge to write about something. This one is hard for me to talk about, much less put out there for the entire world to see. But here goes.

I am sick and tired of struggling with my weight.

Yep. There. I said it.

I'm tired of that look people get when they haven't seen you for a long time. I'm tired of never feeling good enough. I'm tired of the "well, it DOES run in your family" remarks. I'm tired of my kids having the fat mom, and the comments and questions they have to endure. I'm tired of feeling like crap. I may not weight 500 lbs, but my body just doesn't feel well at the weight I'm at.  I'm tired of the scale wars.  I'm tired of the feeling of doom when I know I need to weigh myself, and the feeling of shame when the number isn't what I wanted to see. I'm tired of watching my stick skinny husband eat twice as much as me, and me being the one that gets to go up a jean size.

Is this post going to change anything? No. But I'm acknowledging my problem and maybe with the feeling of admittance, I will feel more comfortable posting about it and my journey.

Everyone fights some sort of fight. This is mine.

Our Weekend

Whew..ever need a weekend away from your weekend?? That's how ours has been.

Yesterday afternoon we were talking about how we needed to go camping, which turned into a discussion about setting up the tent in the yard for the guys to sleep in, which turned into  "how much fun" it would be to camp in the tree row at the farm. So that's what we did.

I, for one think its a lot more fun to camp when there's a lake to fish near by. And a toilet. And AC. And running water. No, I am not what you call a camper.

I didn't even grab extra clothes. Just my camera, my cell phone, and my bird book.

It wasn't what I would call a grand time, but it was nice.  Dan set up our tent so it faced the wheat field. Jacob and I took some nice pictures, just as the light was juuuust right as the sun was setting.

They shot a few cans off fence posts, I bird watched a little, sat around and enjoyed the sound of the wheat waving,and that's about all we did.  None of us slept great. I was uncomfortable, and then couldn't sleep--I  kept thinking about how creepy the tree row is in the daytime, and here we were camping in it at night. And the guys couldn't sleep because apparently the new brand of nose strips I got for my snoring, don't work. HAHA Dan told me we were all perfectly safe as I had scared away any wildlife in the area. ;)

Checking on the Sand Plums. Looks like jelly will be happening this year!!

I may gripe about dry and windy Kansas quite a bit, but she sure does have those sun sets down to perfection!

After a restless night, we packed up, and headed to town. I headed to eat lunch with some of my classmates, who were in town to celebrate our 15 year reunion. Not many were able to make it, but we still had a great time seeing each other. 2 of these guys I had not seen since we left the school on graduation day.

After lunch we toured our high school. Lots have changed there, but my friend Amy and I discovered the girls locker room smelled EXACTLY the same, and were transformed suddenly to 7th grade.  Hopefully we can get more to come to our 20th.  It was a lot of fun to be with the people who went through the most awkward time of your life with you, and meeting their wives and kiddos!

I'm off for a nap!! Have a great Memorial Day!!

It's Official!!

We have a kid in high school. *gulp* How did this happen?? Wasn't it last week I was getting up in the middle of the night with a newborn, fully convinced I would never sleep again??  Amazing.

Before I post about his graduation, there is a song that was shared with me last week. It makes me cry, and it beautifully expresses my feelings I've had over the past week. Listen to it!!

Monday evening was the big night! Well, for us, anyway.  In typical man behavior, Jacob thought 8th grade graduation was just about the stupidest ritual ever. He seemed to have a lot of fun though, and was very happy to get out of school a few days before his brother did. He stayed at his buddies house the night before graduation,  checked out at school, graduated, went the the dance, and then a couple of his friends stayed here, in the tent, until it started raining at 4am, and they invaded the house.   He opened up his first checking account with his cash gifts he received, and has discovered thank you cards..well, they are not really so much fun, especially when you write like a doctor.

The 8th graders made an identity book, where they wrote about themselves. My Family, Me Back When, and The Feeling Me, are just a couple of the categories  I love this book, and will be keeping it FOREVER.  I saw the Jacob I know, but I also learned a lot about him through his writing.

I learned he loves his family, that he thinks we are normal, and that he hates conflict within his family unit.  He loves his friends and relies on them, and probably will be sporting a police uniform someday.

There was one part that made me cry, under "People I Admire".

"The first person I admire is my grandpa Mike. I admire him because my grandpa is very strong. A normal person probably wouldn't have lived through the things he had been through."

And..

"I also admire my parents.  I admire my parents because they always set a good example for me."

=)