and the new Miss Edmond LibertyFest is....

well, you'll have to go to Matt's blog for pictures (click here), but we'll be cheering for Talia again next year at Miss Oklahoma. Congrats, Talia!

On the way home

Meanwhile, Back on the Farm

As promised, big news on the blogging front! Dad & Mom have a blog set up - check it out at www.meanwhilebackonthefarm.blogspot.com

Letter From Camp

Dear Dad,

Happy Birthday. I hope you are having a good day. I am having fun here at camp. Right now it is FOB time (flat on bunk). Right now we are getting ready to go on the big slide. I did not catch any fish. Ira did not catch any either. I had a bite but I didn't reel it in fast enough. I am having fun at camp. Last night I didn't sleep well. It kept raining. The showers here are ice cold. I miss you.

Again, Happy Birthday. I love you,

Luke

Jerry got this letter today from Luke. I'm typing it as best as I can remember - Jerry read it to me over the phone. It's pretty close though! It must have been written on Tuesday.

Not so live blogging from the farm

Whew! We have had a busy few days here in Western Kansas. I just put two very, very tired and dirty kids to bed. I'm hoping Luke is just as tired and dirty at Camp Lakeside, 'cause that means he's having fun!

We are back at the farm after a short side trip to Syracuse, where we reminisced and visited old friends. It was fun, but bittersweet. Our gorgeous yard that we wish we still had is just being neglected. Life goes on :) We also got to spend some time with the Berning side of the family. Grandma Kathy fixed us a yummy supper and Vicki stuffed us with some chocolate cake she and Katie and Michael made. It was fun to see them!

Just for kicks, I'm going to throw out a little tease here... look for big things to come in the blogging world tomorrow! That'll get you wondering, won't it?

Live Blogging from the Farm

The kids and I abandoned Jerry for the week (on his birthday, no less) and headed to Western Kansas yesterday. Luke is spending five days at Camp Lakeside, a church camp at Scott Lake. His friend Ira from Johnson is also attending, and they ran into one of their old classmates from Syracuse there as well. Their camp is entitled "Camp Fishy". and was chosen by Ira. The theme is fishing (obviously) so they spend about three hours every morning fishing. Luke likes to fish if he is catching something, so hopefully they'll have good luck. After five days of it, he'll either love it or hate it! He was jealous when we pulled up and he realized there is a Hike and Bike camp going on at the same time. He LOVES to bike and would be overjoyed to spend three hours a day doing that. I'm sure they'll have a fabulous time - they always do. Lots of smores and canoeing and swimming and games and hopefully some Bible time in there somwhere!

Aubrey, Jackson, and I are hanging out for the week. We spent yesterday with Mom and Dad. Jackson got to ride on the combine - Dad is cutting barley. Aubrey got to feed the bucket calf (she didn't love getting slobbered on, and was appalled that Hoover, Grandma's dog, licked the calf's tongue to clean up the leftover milk!) Mom has four kittens on the back porch. They are at such a cute stage; just tumbling and playing and chasing each other. Of course the kids are enthralled with them. Mom and I tore wallpaper off the kitchen walls and plan to spend today washing off old glue and hopefully getting a coat of paint on. Aubrey was a ton of help with this - she enjoyed climbing around on the countertops scraping the soffets!

We plan to visit Marilyn in Syracuse this evening, and spend the day tomorrow with friends there. Then back to Leoti to visit some more!

Shoot Jerry an email or text if you think of it -he's 38 today! Happy Birthday, honey!

Ten, continued

So, Luke got to open his presents at lunch time. He was overjoyed , to say the least, with the Wii he received. He and Aubrey and Luke spent the rest of the afternoon doing this:He has some money that he's earned over the past few months (thank you, Grandpa Bob), which he has been saving to buy a bow for next fall's turkey season. He decided he wanted to spend some of it on an extra Wiimote so one of his siblings could challenge him to a game of tennis. We went to Hastings yesterday and Luke purchased a remote for $42.81. We made it as far as the parking lot, and he stopped cold in his tracks. "Mom, I can't buy this. It cost more than half of my savings! That's too much money to leave my wallet!" Well, after some discussion we decided to hang on to the remote overnight so he could think about it. Since then, he has received some birthday money, which could go toward the remote OR the bow. He's still thinking. I think Hastings has a 90 day return policy. It might take all of those 90 days for him to come to a decision!

Anyway, he had a good birthday. Jackson had a teeball game at Carey Park in the evening, which is completely across town from us. It does take awhile to get there:
Obviously. He did wake up in time to play his game - he had two really good hits and wrestled a girl to the ground in the outfield for a pop fly. That's my boy! Here he is, all duded up:
Notice the water standing in the background. It's pretty wet around here. Later on we came back to the house for cake with Aunt Stacia and Uncle Mick. We had the kids' new favorite cake, Strawberry Angel Food. Yum!

Ten

Happy Birthday, Luke. Ten years ago Jerry and I were holding a tiny 7 lb 3 oz baby boy. Wow!

Luke requested his favorite snack, Crispy Cheesy Snacks. So, we mixed up a batch; right before lunch, no less. We're all about spoiling lunch time on birthdays. Why not?
The kids all love them.
Crispy Cheesy Snacks

1 cup butter, softened (I didn't say they were good for you ;)
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated (any type of cheese will do in a pinch, but sharp cheddar is best)
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
2 cups rice krispies

Mix butter, cheese, and salt well in a large bowl. Stir in flour; mix well. Add rice krispies, mixing by hand if necessary. Form into balls the size of walnuts, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten balls with a fork or the bottom of a glass. You can sprinkle with paprika or cayenne pepper if you want a little more spice and color. We prefer them just plain. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Make sure they are crispy and slightly brown. Remove and enjoy! They rarely last long around here.

Luke is eagerly anticipating Jerry's arrival for lunch. He's hoping to open presents then instead of waiting until dinner. It's so fun to be ten - life is good!

Woohoo!

I'm done! I'm done! Woohoo!

Now, if only my house were clean...

Summertime

This is what my kids have been doing this summer:


I have no idea why Luke is in a sleeping bag. As you can see, he has a perfectly good bed right beside him. We have been staying up late every night riding bikes and just enjoying summer. What a life!

You know it's not going to be an easy class...

when the final quizzer is so long it requires an industrial-strength stapler to hold all the pages together.

I will not procrastinate when renewing my license in 2010. Really.

Look what we found in our back yard!

Can you tell what it is? Jerry was thrilled to discover.... a mulberry tree! He remembers eating mulberries out at Jim and Judy's as a kid. Our kids picked enough to make a pie, so we'll see if they're as good as he remembers!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, to all you dads out there. Hope you have a fun, relaxing day. So far Jerry has fertilized the lawn, assembled his present (a push cart for his golf bag), and ran to the gym to work out. Hmmm. Relaxing??

32 down

And only 47 to go. Whew!

I've been polishing off my taxi driver's license today. The boys have started soccer camp today with the club team here in Hutch. I think they both learned more in one evening than they did in an entire season with the Y. Luke really, really enjoys playing soccer.

Jackson had his first t-ball game of the season last night - it was typical for a t-ball game. Pretty darn cute, in other words. I think the sweetest thing we saw all evening was a little tiny girl, couldn't have been more than 4, who got up to bat for the first time and did not have a clue what to do. The umpire patiently helped her hold the bat correctly, then stepped back and told her "Now take a step and swing!" So, being 4, she did just that. She stomped with her right foot and swung the bat. Stomp, swing. Stomp, swing. It was hilarious! I'm sure her daddy was cringing somewhere in the stands.

If you're wondering...

why there aren't any new blog posts from me, it's because I've got 80 hours of continuing education to complete before June 30th. That's right, just stamp "procrastinator" on my forehead. I've known that I would need to do this for TWO YEARS and I'm just now getting around to tackling it. Yuck. Yuck. Triple Yuck.

We've had lots of fun company lately - Grandma and Grandpa Berning & Justine stopped here for the night on their way home from Tulsa Sunday. Monday evening our friends, the Hucks, moved to Hutchinson from Syracuse. We kept their kids overnight so they could sleep in a bed - things were a bit chaotic at their new house since the moving truck didn't arrive until after 8:00 p.m. Tuesday we got to meet Marilyn Kohart at a mini-golf/go kart track/arcade/amusement park place in Wichita for a few hours. The kids had a blast until time to go, whereupon the boys proceeded to get extremely motion sick from the last ride. Oh well. Tuesday evening we met Aubrey's friend Amy at Haven and brought her home with us for a few days. Her grandma is having heart surgery today in Wichita.

Whew! It's been a fun whirlwind! Luke and Jackson are gearing up for soccer camp this weekend, and Aubrey is gearing up for a visit to the orthodontist. Guess who's going to have more fun?

I think that "procrastinator" label is getting more appropriate by the minute. Here I am typing paragraphs about nothing when I had intended to set down at the computer and start in on those 80 hours. Pray for me!

Guess what! I just looked again at my CPA renewal, and I only have to get 79 hours - one carried forward from last time :)

Everybody say Hi!

Run on over to Dan and Mary's blog site and say howdy - Lindsey, Jerry's niece, has been busy getting their blog set up. Welcome!

How to tell your boys have been on the farm...

Jackson went out back to check out Jerry's garden this morning. He came back in, scratched his chin seriously, and said, "Dad's crops sure are growing. Sure are."

Day 4 and we're home!

Our time in Tulsa is over for this year. It was so much fun; we already have the week blocked off for next year's competition. Talia did not make the top ten, but she was the Top Rookie (someone new to the pageant) Non-Finalist. About half of the 42 contestants were Rookies. We were all so proud of her and the example she set for our daughters. She did not compromise her faith or her values in order to conform to the pageant world's idea of tolerance (as you can imagine, many of the men involved in the direction and judging of pageants are homosexuals). She has a couple of preliminary pageants lined up over the next couple of months in order to qualify for Miss Oklahoma 2009. We'll keep you posted!We were able to attend a bridal shower for Melissa before we left Tulsa. Here she is along with the aunts:
What I really should have taken a picture of was Talia eating a big piece of chocolate cake at the shower!

So here we are at home, glad to be back in our own beds. The boys had a terrific time with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Ann. They both earned some money and were extremely proud of that. Luke was on cloud nine last night because he got to drive tractor and brand calves and mow and drive the pickup - lots of boy stuff. Jackson was just happy there were baby kittens to play with!

Live Blogging Day 3

Talia performed ballet en pointe to "The Mask of Zorro" last night. It was absolutely beautiful, very, very graceful.

There was a lot of terrific talent last night, much more impressive than the other two nights. Tonight we will find out who made it to the top ten. Talia has really enjoyed working with Jennifer Barry, Miss America 2006. She asked her to take a picture with the girls, and Jennifer graciously agreed. She is so nice and down to earth! Here are the starstruck girls, along with Jennifer:
Stacia's sister Lynnette and her family came, along with lots of other family. We got a few pictures of the audience before the show began last night.

We afternoon shopping and just hanging out. Mary had a party in her room after the pageant, but they wouldn't let me put any pictures up! Nothing wild, believe me :)

Live Blogging Day 2

Well. There was some excitement around here yesterday, or should I say this morning. You all are just going to wish you were here, to join in the party. As you can see, it was a pajama party. The tornado sirens blew at about midnight here in Tulsa, so all the guests of the Tulsa Southern Hills Hilton, THE official hotel of the Miss Oklahoma pageant, got to join in the ballroom until the all clear. We didn't actually have any weather except rain here, but Grant lost power at his apartment. Whew. At least we were in our jammies. Some of the guests were in the shower and came down in towels and robes!

Most importantly though, here is Talia, in the production dance number. Second from the left, or just look for the most beautiful one :)

Grant and his lovely fiancee', Melissa Smithson, along with Talia after the pageant:

Katie, Aubrey, Talia, Bethany, and Justine:

and finally, Grandpa and his harem:

Talia looked awesome in her swimsuit, absolutely amazing. Tonight is talent, and the announcement of the top ten finalists. For now, we're heading to the mall!

Live Blogging from Miss Oklahoma!

Here we are, in Tulsa! It's Thursday morning and we have some down time (okay, a lot of down time) before we need to start making ourselves beautiful for tonight's competition. Here's the scoop on the pageant so far....

First of all, this is a REAL pageant! I had no idea that it would be such a professional production. There are 42 contestants; the majority are real contenders. The emcees for the event are Jennifer Barry Gordan, Miss Oklahoma and Miss America 2006, and Lauren Nelson, Miss Oklahoma and Miss America 2007.

Primping for the pageant:

Poor Alan. He doesn't even get name recognition anymore - notice Nanette's nametag - she is Nanette BERNING once more! And here she is, Miss Okmulgee County:
Talia and her Oklahoma Star onstage:

Proud Grandparents

Stacia and Talia

and this morning, here we are making posters for tonight's competition. You can't imagine the smell in here - we're all about to pass out!

Tonight is the swimsuit portion for Talia. We watched the rehearsal this morning, and let me tell you, she is really, really fit. We think she's a shoe-in for the preliminary award tonight. Check back tomorrow!