It's Pool Time!

Our town built a new swimming pool over the winter. It is awesome! I can probably count on one hand the number of times we went to the pool over the past couple of years, and we have already exceeded that number and then some this year! The kids are loving every minute of it, and since we have such a LONG walk (haha!--we live a block away), we are there almost daily.

I spend most of my time in the zero entry area, where Mylee and Jentree love to play in the water jets and mushrooms. I can sit in the water and stay cool, and they get to have a bit of freedom as well--a win, win situation.
The older kiddos like to roam around, and go down the slide. They are loving every minute of it! They come up and play with the little ones for a bit, then off they go.


Jentree LOVES the mushrooms, but Mylee isn't totally convinced they are all great quite yet!

At the end of the day, a girl gets tired from all that swimming! She is posing in her "big girl laying out," pose with Tanner. :-)

Makenna and Calder never came back to the shallow end while the camera was out, so I don't have photos of them. That is pretty normal--we arrive, and they scatter. :-) Can't wait for tomorrow--we will be back!

Anyone know Tim The Toolman?

Summertime......the time for relaxation, lounging by the pool, going to ballgames, and home improvement projects. So, last weekend I decided that I was going to tackle refinishing some of our hardwood floors. Off we went to the rental place, and after much deliberation we came home on with a floor sander. After conferring with YouTube (you never knew that it was the mecca for DIY how to instructions!!), we began in the back hallway. We decided that was a good spot to start because if we screwed it up too badly, it wouldn't be seen as much!!

I am edging the back hallway with a hand sander after sanding with the big floor sander. That darn curved is neat to look at, but it is a pain to go around!!

We decided that the back hallway wasn't all that bad to do, so we went to the dining room. The dining room proved to be a bit more difficult however (of course!). The previous owner had tried sanding the room by hand, and then stained. It had lap marks and wasn't ever sealed, so it was scratched and blotchy looking. It took quite a while to get it all off. There are still some areas we won't be able to get all the way fixed, but I think it will at least look better than it was.

Other than being rather loud, the floor sander wasn't too bad to run. It wasn't even terribly dusty as it has a vacuum bag attached. There is still dust that it doesn't get, but overall it does a pretty good job of keeping it contained.
This is how it looks right now:

I have to edge the dining room and then a staining we will go. After that, polyurethane x3, and hopefully it will be sparkling! If not, well then......I guess I just won't look down! :-) Maybe I need to quit watching HGTV!!!

Weekend Winners!

We had a weekend of softball in Clay Center. The Angels played both Saturday and Sunday in an 8 and under tournament. Makenna is improving each game, and learns more every time. I must say that I get nervous each time she is up to bat. I find myself holding my breath, and then when she hits it, I find myself running in my chair "helping" her along. I don't think it helps her one bit, but it gives me something to do!!


The girls did well, and made it to the championship game. It came down to the wire--tied at the top of the 5th inning (they only play 5), and they held the other team. Makenna was pretty excited that she helped get a girl out. :-) We ended up getting the winning run, and you can see the excitement in the dugout!
After the games were over, we celebrated like any winning ball team does--we went to the Clay Center zoo! Who knew that there was a zoo in Clay Center?? I had heard about it, but had never been. We did a quick tour of the small walk-through zoo, and saw some of the animals on display. It was quite the day! Makenna is still talking about it, and is pretty excited that their team has qualified to go to the state tournament. Way to go Angels!

Window Peeking

It is hard to be little. Mylee likes to look out the window and watch all the big kids of the neighborhood, and the cars going by. She will holler out when the screen is open and the kids all like to play along and call back to her. She thinks that is the best!
Of course, she also has the family genetics for height, so she is creative in how she can get herself high enough to look out!

Engagement Pictures!!!

No---not mine! My brother and his fiance' asked me if I would take their engagement pictures for them. Wow! I was surprised and honored that they would ask me--I like taking pictures, and really am trying to learn how to take better pictures, but I have never done anything like that before. The good thing was---if I totally messed it all up, we could always go back and do it over again!!! :-)

I had such a fun time doing the photo shoot!! We went all over town, and got some really awesome shots (if I do say so myself!! hahaha). I was very pleased with how they turned out. I think there are a few "keepers" in the batch, and hopefully they will have a few options to choose from.

I am picking some of my favorites from the 200+ pics we took!!! It is hard to choose. I think I may have carpal tunnel in my shutter finger!!! hahaha!

Dancing the Night Away

Makenna and Tearney have been enrolled in dance class this past school year. A local studio opened last year, and they both wanted to take classes, so we signed up. Every Tuesday we would rush home to get one to class, then pick up one, drop off the other and then pick up again. Whew! It made Tuesdays pretty busy, but they so enjoyed their classes. We were fortunate that we could carpool too, so that made life much easier!


They had their recital the past two nights. They did such a good job! They had a great time, and it was so fun to watch them all dance.


I think they may have enjoyed the costumes just as much as getting to dance. They LOVE to dress up, and to get to dress up AND dance.....well, there can't be anything better in the world for them!! When we got home, the first thing they asked was, "When do we get to start classes again?" I had better get them signed up, or my name will be mud!

Itches, Taples, and Splints....OH MY!

So, if you haven't had the opportunity to know our family, I guess one might say that we are a bit, well....familiar with the hospital setting. So, yes, we have had a few ER visits over the years, but hey, no more than the rest of the average world....right?

Yeah......please don't answer that. Anyway....

I guess someone thought that we had WAY too good of a winter, and since we avoided a hospital visit, we apparently were overdue. So, we not only had one ER visit, but we went all out and had TWO!

In picture number 1, you will see Tearney sporting the latest in Spring/Summer fashion--a splint! Yes, not only did she break her arm, but she did it at church (isn't church supposed to be a "safe" place???), but went a week and a half without complaining about it!!! What a tough cookie she is! By the time we ended up at the orthopedic doctor, he decided she was doing so well, she only had to have a splint on--no cast!!! Woo-Hoo!! We just went back this week, and she now has the splint off with instructions to "take it easy." Sigh.......we'll see how THAT goes.


And ER visit #2 went to our loving Jentree. Yes, Jentree wanted to see the horses at the rodeo grounds when we were at the softball tournament a couple of weeks ago. The kids were sitting on the bleachers, and she climbed up a little higher with her brothers so she could see the horses better. (She LOVES horses!) She got so excited that a horse was close by, she jumped up and ended up falling through the bleachers and hit one of the cross rails with her head on the way down. I got a quick phone call from Stub, as I was with the girls at the ball diamond, and ran over.

Jentree had quite a laceration (3 inches) to her head, so we quickly pawned the rest of the kids off to friends (thanks everyone!!! We owe you....again!) and rushed to the ER. It was a bit scary I will admit--even for nurse mom. She got pretty groggy on the way, so that bothered me a bit. When we arrived and cleaned the area, we could see that the cut was all the way to the skull. (Insert big scary breath here). Off we went for an immediate Cat Scan. We were getting prepared to decide what hospital to transfer her to, when the results came back that she had miraculously not fractured the skull and that her brain was perfectly fine. (HUGE sigh of relief!!!!)
We got her stiched and stapled up, and had to wake her up every 2 hours to check on her. Her memory was a bit scattered for a bit due to a pretty good concussion, but by the next day, she was back to her old self. Happy Mother's Day indeed! The whole situation reminded us so much of 3 years ago, when she had her previous head injury. Very dejavu like. She is going to be one tough girl!!

We went in on Friday to get her "itches" out. She was good with the whole idea, until it was time to take them out, then she voiced her GREAT displeasure with the situation--NO! NO! NO! Afterward, she asked in her little wobbly voice if she "could keep my itches and taples?" We bagged them up, she proudly walked out of the room, threw her arms open wide to everyone in the hall and ER and announced, "They're all gone! No more itches!" What a crack up!

Ahhhh......parenthood!! I would kind of like boring for a while. Think we can manage that for the summer?

Softball Fun

Makenna and Tearney have spent the last two weekends playing in softball tournaments. Tearney has had her game hampered a bit with her broken arm, but as you can see, she is going with the flow.


Having fun in between games.

Makenna hitting the ball.

Today, Makenna's team played in a tournament in Salina. They played in a 9 and younger tournament, so it was older girls, but they ended up taking 2nd place. Way to go Angels!! They were all smiles receiving their medals.
It has been a fun time getting to see the girls learn a sport and enjoy it so much. We are all having a good time, and are looking forward to a fun summer.

First Communion

Makenna celebrated her First Communion this afternoon at church. She was so excited, and looked so grown up and pretty in her dress and veil. Tearney asked if Makenna was getting married today. When I explained what was happening, she thoughtfully replied, "Well, she can save her dress and wear it when she decides to get married. That will save money." She's definitely thinking ahead! The getting married part......I think we can wait on that one for a few years!

It was a family affair as Tanner helped as a greeter and handed out programs. He then joined Calder and Tearney, and they all sang in the children's choir. Don't look too closely in the next picture--Mylee doesn't have any shoes on (she kept taking them off and throwing them!) They all looked so nice though.

Walking in during the processional.

Receiving her very First Communion from Father Henry.

The whole class:

Makenna and Hannah smiling pretty for the camera. Congratulations girls!!
We then headed over to the parish hall for a reception. It was a bit exciting as a thunderstorm arrived, and it was pouring outside. Not a good mix with pretty white dresses! We made it over as dry as we could make it, and had a nice time. It was a memorable day!

OK, OK, OK

Yeah, I realize I have been a bit, well, absent lately. Many reasons for it (6 of them), but I have some spare time today, so thought I would get a post in.

It has been a busy winter for us. Tanner and Calder joined the Kids Wrestling team here in town. They did really well for their first year and competing against other kids that have been wrestling for 5 years. We went to 4 different tournaments, and they even ended up getting some medals at them. They enjoyed it, and would like to try it again next year.
Makenna and Tearney have been busy with dance practices, and clinics. They participated in the K-State Classy Cats clinic, and got to perform at half-time of a KSU Women's game. They were pretty excited about that! They have also begun softball practice. They are both enjoying their time at practice, and are excited to have their very first games ever.

Jentree and Mylee are growing more every day, and are learning loads of new things from their brothers and sisters. Jentree had ear tubes placed at the end of December, and we have noticed huge gains in her speech. Gone are the ear infections, and the fussiness that goes along with them.
Mylee has gone in for monthly injections to prevent her from getting RSV, and gamma globulin infusions. We think that they have helped out immensely with her immune system this winter. She had surgery on her former G-Tube site because it began leaking out of the blue. She did very well with the procedure, and Dr. SP told us that he made sure that he stitched everything really well. Apparently only 5% of cases have this issue, so she is keeping true to "Mylee" form. What else could we expect?!
All in all, a busy winter, but that seems to be normal around here.