Shhhhh...

It must be summer. It's 8:14 a.m. and the kids are all still asleep. Mmmmmm. I get the house to myself for awhile! We had a morning rain shower and it smells fabulous outside - I've got the windows open so the cool breeze will blow through.

Since I have the time, I thought I'd update you on a few things that have been going on around here. Funny how I tried so hard to "downsize" our activities when we moved here, so we wouldn't be crazy busy all the time. It worked for awhile, but we're right back in the thick of things. That's life! So here are some highlights lately, sans pictures. Sorry!

1. Aubrey, my almost-seventh-grader, is turning into quite the young lady. She spends more time in the bathroom getting ready to go somewhere than all the rest of us combined! The boys get to sit out in the hallway and wait for their turn in their bathroom. They are not amused.
2. Luke and Jerry finally made it out to hunt some turkey last night. They came home after dark with tired, sore keesters from sitting, waiting, for the birds. The flock was a no-show. Disappointing! I asked what they talked about for three hours alone, and they both gave me a puzzled look. Apparently, you can't talk, AT ALL, when hunting. Wow. That's a long time to sit still and be quiet!
3. Jackson's tooth did come out, with a little help. Now he spends all his free time whistling. I guess it's easier to whistle when you're missing your two top front teeth. He certainly has a lisp now; we get tickled listening to him try to talk. He doesn't think it's as funny as I do, imagine that.
4. We are all looking forward to next week. The boys get to spend the week with Grandpa and Grandma and dirt and cattle and boy stuff. They are thrilled, and I think their Grandpa is, too. Aubrey and I are leaving Wednesday to cheer on Talia at the Miss Oklahoma competition. It's been fun watching her prepare, getting a sneak peek at all the beautiful dresses, grilling her with interview questions, etc. She has invested an amazing amount of time and effort on this; I appreciate most of all the positive role model she is for my children. Jerry is going to go to Tulsa Friday after work to catch the last two days of the pageant also. Should be fun!

I hear noises upstairs - better run!

Another milestone

Jackson's spring kindergarten program was last week. He was a complete ham. I didn't start recording as early as I should have; in the song before this he was really boogying, at least as much as a small white boy can boogie! Here is the final song performed by Jackson's class:

And yes, I did have tears in my eyes when his teacher announced the 2008-2009 First Graders!

Snaggletooth

Gosh, I hope the Tooth Fairy hurries up and gets here. It's getting so I'm embarrassed to go out in public with Jackson. That has got to be the ugliest, loosest, blackest tooth I've ever seen. Yuck.

Yes, Toto, we ARE in Kansas

We had an interrupted night last night, as the tornado sirens blew around 12:15. Jerry had been up watching the weather anyway, but the sirens were definitely loud enough to wake us out of a sound sleep. We got the kids up and made a pallet for them in the basement, then went to sleep on the couch for a while. We ended up with 1.70" of rain and lots of wind.

I wasn't too worried; the radar on television looked like any real danger of a tornado would pass to the south of us. I did worry about Talia's evening gown though - I was hoping they took it to the basement! (Jerry's niece is competing in the Miss Oklahoma pageant in a couple of weeks.) I'm going to have to call her and make sure she puts it in a safe place before more storms roll in tonight.

We awoke to a nasty leak in our foyer ceiling. After much debate, it looks like water got in under the second story dormers and leaked down through the walls and ceilings. What a nasty mess. I'm putting fans on our new carpet (which we pulled up in the dormers) now to make sure we don't end up with mildew problems. Jerry's headed out to buy some caulk for a temporary fix. Looks like new siding in next on our list of home improvement projects, unfortunately.

Well, that turned out better than I thought!

There were screams at our house tonight - David Cook won!!! Woohoo!!!

Look below

I'm not sure what just happened. I edited a draft of a post I saved on Monday, and then published it. For some reason, it shows up waaaay down the row on my blog - scroll down a few to read "Dance, Dance, more Dance, and Graduation" if you are interested!

Just what you've been waiting for...

Well, maybe. I didn't get great pictures of the father-daughter dance, but I think you can get the idea:
It was a lot of fun to watch, and laugh at! Aubrey did beautifully in her performances as well; she did a ballet, a jazz, and a tap dance as well as the father/daughter finale both nights. Jerry performed very well, and managed to escape without injury. One of the dads tore his achilles tendon during the Friday night performance! Imagine the jokes that poor guy has to endure.

Most importantly, here's the picture I found on my camera this morning:
Pretty much sums up my kids' feelings, don't you think?

Zoo, again

Aubrey and her friends, the monkeys...
Luke and Logan, the cool dudes...

Caught

I heard him yelling for help, but instead I grabbed my camera!

Dance, Dance, More Dance, and Graduation!

I started this post Monday, and just couldn't get it finished. It's a bit after the fact now, but maybe you'll enjoy catching up with our weekend anyway. I've been so lethargic this week, I think everything is just catching up with me. I've been popping vitamins and exercising trying to shake off the tired feeling, but haven't entirely succeeded. I am really hoping to just relax this weekend and catch up on some sleep!

Once again, the Bernings had a busy weekend. I shouldn't be surprised! Jerry's folks were able to come Friday and stay until Monday, which made for a very enjoyable visit. We kept them on their toes the whole time; they are probably going to have a nap when they get home today!

Aubrey had her dance recital this weekend (maybe I should say dance recitalS!) She did a terrific job, and enjoyed herself for the most part. She did think she was going to starve Friday night - she had to be in her dressing room by 5:45. I fed her supper before we went, but we thought she would be allowed out at intermission to have a snack. She sent me a text right before intermission that said "I'm starving! I can't leave! Food!" I snuck some popcorn back to her so she wouldn't waste away to nothing. The boys lucked out Friday night and got to play at Mick & Stacia's house instead of sitting through the recital. They were thoroughly worn out when we picked them up at 10:30, in fact Jackson was asleep on Grandpa's lap.

We had a repeat of the dance performance Saturday - I think we sat through around 120 dances between the two days. Yep, I said 120. Imagine the numb feeling in our rear ends by 10:30 Saturday night.

Sunday we were privileged to watch Jerry's nephew Nicholas graduate from Andale High School. You can check out the big moment here if you are interested. After graduation we retired to Ted & Shelley's house for a party complete with chocolate fountain. Wish I had a picture of Jackson's face. I'm sure you can imagine - just picture a six-year-old missing his front teeth with a chin covered in chocolate!

This week has just been a whirlwind of end-of-year activities and meetings. I am just as ready for school to be over as the kids are!

Check out the following post for some pictures of the father-daughter dance.

mmmmm...

There is an advantage to having a husband who has a chiropractic clinic, besides the obvious, of course. He frequently brings home food his patients have brought by for him. Some really yummy cinnamon rolls, jam, cookies, etc. Last night topped them all, though. We were the lucky recipients of a homemade strawberry cheesecake - it was to die for! It didn't have strawberry topping, but had strawberries blended in with the cheesecake itself. Oh my. I was going to post a picture, but that just would be cruel!

Of course, there was the patient who brought canned deer meat. Not at the top of my list. At all.

Hi Lilly Mae!

Fluffy, Felix, and Sarge send greetings to their brand-new second cousin, Lilly Mae Shaffer!

Which one is the real monkey?

Yes, that's a real gorilla. He was sitting by the glass enclosure. Every once in a while he would glance at Jackson out of the corner of his eye.

Mother's Day

What a fun Mother's Day weekend we had! Mom & Dad came for a visit, so of course us girls went shopping. Mom found some great clothes, but apparently our most important acquisition was some pedicure socks from Bath & Body Works. They are EXTREMELY soft, and loved by all who felt them. Even boys:They do leave little blue things everywhere on my carpet though. Here are Mom and Dad relaxing after church:
and here's me trying to figure out my Mother's Day present: a fabulous new phone! I had been dropping some very broad hints over the past six months, such as: "I dropped my phone in the garage today; didn't run over it, but look how scarred up it is!" and "This #$%@ thing won't hold a charge!" and "If only I had a new phone, I could check the weather!" Apparently, hints like that work :)
Dad and Luke played soccer and ladder golf.
and here's me and my Mom, on Mother's Day!
I almost forgot. Jackson drew a picture of me at school, and wrote a few things about me on the picture. Such as the fact that I have green eyes (pretty sure they're as brown as can be!) and that I am 37 (I'm 36) and that my favorite food is yogurt (have my kids fooled; they don't know I eat chocolate cake when they're at school!). But he got the most important part right: "I love my mom because she loves me!"

ugh

Too.Busy.To.Blog. It's May! I'll post soon, I promise.

A Morning Chorus

We woke up this morning to birds chirping and frogs singing!

Kitchen Floors and Heater Vents

I was tempted to take a picture of my kitchen floor for you all to see, but I didn't. It is covered with three-fourths of the sand from the parking lot at the kids' school. Not complaining about the wet sand, no, not me. I do wish all those people who voted down the bond issue to pave the parking lots had to come sweep my floor though. Or maybe mop it on their hands and knees.

Also, while we're on the topic of kitchen floors, I have a heater vent right under my kitchen sink. It is wonderful in the winter - keeps my toes all toasty while I wash dishes. I did discover a downfall this morning, however. If you spill a container of applesauce that you were washing out in the sink, and it goes on the floor, it also goes into the heater vent. And that is just really hard to get cleaned up! Yuck. Don't you wish you had a picture of that?

Luke

Luke sure appreciated all of your kind comments and emails about his story. He was most tickled by Dad's pun about "bucks" (check out the comment section on his post), and it tickled me to see him being tickled! Look for future stories from him on the blog; he likes to write (but wishes it didn't involve a pencil, he's learning to type instead.)

He came home from school today limping. Usually he sprints off the bus, so I wondered what was up. Apparently he stepped in a puddle on the way to the bus stop at 7:30 this morning, and has had a wet foot ever since. The skin on the sole of his foot is all wrinkled and white and painful! Now if it was me, I would have asked the school nurse for a dry sock. Obviously I am not a 4th grade boy. Thank goodness!

Rain, rain, rain

This Western Kansas girl is having the best week, ever. We've been blessed with rain several days this week, and, guess what......we even got to use umbrellas! Oh, the sound of rain in the morning, the smell of wet dirt and grass, the lush green lawn and pastures, it's just absolutely beautiful. I hope I never get used to it! I'm not even complaining about the mud on the kids' shoes, or the fact that the humidity made my tomatoes get moldy while setting on the counter overnight.

I went to buy some miniature cedars for the big urns in front of our clinic last week, and listened to the man at the nursery whine and complain about all the rain. I just smiled, and said I loved the rain, and walked away.

I sure wish I could send some of this rain your way, Dad, or your way, Sandy.

We don't usually watch the news here at our house; the timing just isn't right to have the tv on at that time of day. We were surprised by an email earlier this week letting us know that my cousin and her family were evacuated from their home in New Mexico due to the Trigo Forrest Fire southeast of Albuquerque. Last we heard they were allowed to return home Sunday, but the fire is not contained yet, and strong winds were forecast for today. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers, for continued safety and for rain!

Spring Cleaning

So what do you think? Darcy designed this new look for my blog, and I love it! It's always fun to have a new look, don't you agree? Be sure and check out her website (click on the button on the left sidebar) if you are curious about her design ideas.

In other news... apparently I am the ONLY one of my friends and family who doesn't tip at Sonic. Soooo, next time I go for a happy hour lemonberry slush, I will give them the change out of my dollar.

For You, Lane

Lane has a singular fascination with garbage trucks. He didn't see ours when he visited, but apparently he and Jerry had quite the conversation over pancakes at IHOP. So here, Lane, our garbagemen in action!

Summertime, almost!

You can tell it's almost summer when the kids break out the popsicles:

and when the flower pots come out of the shed!

Got a little time?

Luke wrote this essay for his Fourth Grade Writing Assessment. I thought some of you might enjoy it, although it's a little long. They had to write something pertaining to outdoor activities, so naturally he chose hunting.

"Outside"

I love going deer hunting with my dad. Last year we went hunting in the fall. It was a cold, snowy morning. We went into the back country of the counties surrounding Wichita County. We had looked for about two hours when some pheasant hunters (it was pheasant season too) spooked a big buck our way. My uncle saw it first, running over a hill into a bluff. He was supposed to say "Arorhooh!" but he was so excited he didn't. We got that from a movie we had watched that night! We chased the buck into the bluff, but he got around us so we searched for fifteen minutes. During that time, I went down a hill with a slab of cement on the side, the cement had a lot of ice on it. I didn't know that, I slipped and fell and slid aways. My uncle Mick had slipped and hadn't told me so we laughed when he told us that. It had begun to warm up by then and the buck was gone so we had a Pepsi and our lunch of sandwiches, jerky, and some candy, mmm.... tasty. I liked the jerky best. It was hot enough for me to take my hunting coat off, so I did. The snow was melting fast and I felt wonderful. We went to about ten or eleven more fields til we got discouraged, so we started going to the tops of hills to get a vantage point on the deer and chart where they were going next. We went like that for awhile. We stopped at a certain hill by a certain bluff, it was a deer hot spot, that bluff. Deer all over that place, woohoo! Jackpot! There was one huge buck my dad saw, so he started stalking the buck, it was awesome! He had to loop around the herd, then my uncle saw a different buck, smaller but it was still a big one! My dad was too far away by then, so we couldn't tell my dad. He was getting close! I was very excited! He was right on the edge of the bluff! Oh, so close and the deer didn't know he was there! So excited! He took aim... a few seconds later, Bang! He hits the huge buck! The bullet hits the vitals, but it can still run! It's running up the hill towards my dad... he reloads and again, Bang! This time the buck drops for good. It's dead! We climb over to him, I'm so excited! My dad was surprised when we told him about the other buck. My grandpa brings the pickup over to where the deer was. That was last year's hunt!

Kind of makes you wish you were there, doesn't it?

May Day

Is this not the cutest picture ever? Jackson left a May Day basket for the elderly couple across the street. He is hiding behind the tree to see if they answer the door.... and, yes, I know the number "4" on his shirt is backward. It's the style, man. Speaking of style, these are Luke's favorite shorts: He's out helping Jerry plant the garden. You have to look good to plant the garden, you know.