Bated Breath

Oh, the agony. Still no bow. I made the mistake yesterday of telling Luke that the UPS man usually comes about five o'clock. I found Luke sitting on the doormat by the front door at 4:30. Waiting. And waiting. And waiting. He finally came and hugged me about 5:30 and said, with a big sigh, that he guessed it wasn't coming today.

Jerry leaned over and told Luke, "Let me smell your breath." What??? "That's what bated breath smells like," he said.

P.S. I actually looked up the phrase "bated breath" to make sure I was spelling it correctly. I am, but it appears that it's on it's way out of dictionaries. So many people are spelling it "baited" that good ol' Webster is about to give in. If you're curious, "bated" is a contraction of the word "abated." It means to stop temporarily. So, you are so anxious for something that you actually stop breathing! That's your grammar lesson for today. You're welcome.

Help!

I am thinking I might put our dog up for adoption. Actually, there's no think about it. If it wouldn't break the kids' hearts, that is. Which it would. So he's staying here.

Barney is a loveable creature, when he isn't peeing on my floor. I am at my wit's end trying to get him to stop it, and have come to realize that, yes, his brain really is that small. He just doesn't get it. So I will invest in a carpet cleaner and just live with it, I guess. At some point we'll pull up the carpet on the main floor and install hard wood. Then it's just a matter of mopping. I was thinking that point was in the far distant future, but it's moving up on the priority list.

Anyway, I am hoping all you dog lovers out there have some advice for me on another issue with the dog. Shedding. At first I thought he was just coming out of coat this summer, but it's been going on for a LONG time. He doesn't have that much coat to come out of! There are little doggy hairs floating everywhere in my house. I wiped some off the countertop in my bathroom this morning - my bathroom is on the second floor of the house and he NEVER goes up there (new carpet!) I am constantly wiping them off the kitchen counter, which is just gross. I'm sure we're eating dog hair along with our meatloaf. Makes you want to come visit me and let me cook for you, huh? So what can I do about it? Help!!!!!

Brown Delivers?

Brown came to our house today. You should have heard the hooping and hollering!

Dadgumit. It wasn't the bow. Just the arrows.

My Astronaut

Luke thoroughly enjoyed his time at the Space Camp this past weekend. It sounds like they spent every minute of every day in hands-on experiments. We went on Sunday for the "graduation" and watched each participant shoot an air-powered rocket, drop astronaut eggs from the balcony onto a landing pad (hopefully without killing their egg), and run robots they had programmed through a path. Luke was ahead of the game on the robot - it was a Lego Mindstorm robot just like he used in school this fall.
Luke (third from left) was part of Team Hotel. You know, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc. Why did I think "H" was Harry? Isn't that easier to hear than Hotel over a crackly radio? Luke wasn't sure where all his teammates were from (no time for idle chit-chat, apparently), but there were kids at the camp from as far away as Florida! His roommate was from somewhere in Missouri. Makes me appreciate the fact that we have the Cosmosphere less than thirty blocks away!

The Cosmosphere has a five-year summer Future Astronaut Training Program that Luke is dying to participate in. It's pretty pricey, so we'll see. They do get to do some neat things over the five years - travel to Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers, log three actual hours of flight time in a single-engine plane, earn their SCUBA certification. He couldn't start until he enters seventh grade. We've got some time to see if it's still something he wants to do by then.

On to the next thing - football camp!

Space Camp

We just dropped Luke off at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center for Mars Academy. It sounds like he'll have the opportunity to do some neat hands-on rocketry and robotics. Right up his alley - he loves science. We pick him up on Sunday after we watch the rocket launch.

Anticipation

This should be arriving on our doorstep next week.
Luke is going to be hanging out by the front door waiting for that UPS truck!

The Camper

Aubrey had a great time at Camp Lakeside last week. She was quick to let her brother know that she caught THREE fish, while he only caught one. She did admit that they were little ones!
The campers also went hiking in an area of eroded rock formations called Little Jerusalem.
I'm glad to have her back. I missed her! I don't know if she's glad to be back:
Just kidding. Of course I didn't make her clean toilets as soon as she got home! This is an old picture. She is a big help around the house; she's always willing to bake or cook for me, and she usually doesn't groan too much about housework (unless it's cleaning her room!)

Mutton Bustin'

The kids got back from their week in Western Kansas yesterday. They were all tired and happy. We fed 'em some supper and threw them in the Yukon for a trip to the Pretty Prairie rodeo. Jackson got all duded up in his boots and jeans, which turned out to be a good thing.

He was one of the ten lucky youngsters who were chosen to compete in the Mutton Bustin' event. He got an official NUMBER on his back (so cool!) and a belt buckle and bandana just for competing. He hung on like a trooper with his arms, but I forgot to tell him to hang on with his knees as well. His sheep shot out of the gate with him hanging on for dear life - he made it about five yards! He fell off the sheep but kept hanging on for a good while, and got up smiling. I have an extremely blurry picture of him riding the sheep on my phone (didn't think to take my camera), but I have no idea how to get my phone to sync up with the computer. I'll have to get out my manual for that one! Check out the dirt on his pants:

See Dad, I am raising some cowboys for you!

Report from Grandma

I sent my camera to camp with Aubrey, and, let me tell you, I am missing it. I keep wanting to grab it and take a picture of the cute little turtle, Henry (or Henrietta. How do you tell?) that we are babysitting. Henry has a sand condo and a water condo. He alternates between his two homes. I think he prefers the water condo, but I am scared to leave him in it all night because he might drown. Can turtles drown? If a turtle can drown, I am sure he would do it at my house.

Anyway, I called to check on the boys last night. It sounds like they are having a grand old time, swimming, watching tv, playing K'nex, and eating pumpkin pie. They both LOVE pumpkin pie, so when Grandpa asked them Sunday night what they wanted for dinner Monday, Jackson piped up with, "Well, you could fix us pumpkin pie." Of course that was just fine with Grandpa, but Grandma kind of ignored that little suggestion. It's July, after all! So Monday night Grandpa asked again what the boys would like for dinner Tuesday, and (according to Grandma) Jackson got a mischievous look on his face and said, "Pumpkin pie!" Grandma gave in and fixed all three of her boys a pie for dinner. It sounds like Grandpa was just as happy with it as the other two! Do you think I should have warned her that their second favorite dessert is cheesecake?

Dance

How come, when I scan in a picture, it makes it tiny? Anyway, we finally got the official pictures from Aubrey's dance recital. Here are the Father/Daughter duo:and Aubrey, in her favorite outfit of the four she danced in:

Voila!

Indentured Servants are GREAT!

It's been awhile. On my last post, I said the kids needed something to do. So, I found them something. Aubrey cleaned the bathrooms (including the toilets!!) and organized Jackson's room. Luke mowed the entire yard. Jackson swept out the garage and mopped the entryway and the laundry room. I ate bonbons and read a book. Just kidding. I spent hours uploading 884 photos to snapfish, something I've been meaning to do for awhile, obviously. I think it was 2 1/2 years worth of pictures; I had them all stored on my computer but just had never bothered to actually order prints.

Aubrey is going to spend her week at Camp Lakeside next week, and I am working for Jerry in the clinic all week. Grandma Kathy volunteered to keep the boys, so they get to go to Leoti also. They are relieved not to have to spend an entire week at the clinic locked in the back room! Don't worry, Jerry and I won't be lonely here by ourselves. We are babysitting Henry, a small turtle. One of Jerry's employees is taking her family to Cancun for the week, so we inherited Henry. He's pretty cute! Jackson tried to founder him yesterday by dumping an entire handful of reptile food in his water condo. We rescued him. I tried to feed him a fly, but he was having nothing of it. I thought turtles liked to eat insects???

Now I understand!

Mom, Dad, I finally understand why you had us spend all summer hoeing stickers and picking up rocks out of the grass. I wish we had some busy work jobs around here. I have three bored kids who need SOMETHING constructive to do!

Here's a new one for you...

On our way into the reception, Nanette and I had a conversation about the food we were about to eat. She said someone told her it was going to be a mashed potato bar. "Nah," I said. "They probably meant a baked potato bar." We walked past the food, and saw a table set with rows of martini glasses stacked three or four high. Of course, that was the table Jackson was hanging onto as he tried to hop on one foot. I grabbed him from the danger area, without really looking at anything else around me. "See, " Nanette said, "there it is. The mashed potato bar!" "It's got to be baked potatoes, don't you think?" I asked.

I am so dense sometimes. Here you go - mashed potatoes served in martini glasses with your choice of toppings! Look closely at the glass in Kathy's hand!
They were yummy!

Idle Hands

Wallpaper is an invention of the devil. I am convinced of that fact.

First of all, let me say that I, too, have wallpapered rooms in previous houses. It was the thing to do at the time, and looked just right. But, being the smart woman that I am, I sold those houses with the wallpapered rooms before I had to strip the wallpaper. Obviously I have become less smart as I age, since this house has not one but THREE rooms that have dated wallpaper in them. We tackled Aubrey's room immediately, and since it was only papered to chair rail height it wasn't so bad. I have been procrastinating starting on my bathroom. Until today. When I was bored.

As a sidenote, let me say that when Aubrey and I helped Mom strip the wallpaper in her kitchen, it just peeled right off!! How in the world did she get so lucky? It was papered in 1975, so by all rights it should have become a part of the wall by now. Not so. We had it completely stripped in under two hours, including the cleaning we did of the walls and the cupboards.

So, anyway, this is what Jerry is going to see when he gets home in ten minutes:

See those lovely dark patches? That's the underlayer of sheetrock. Nice. This represents about five hours of work. I think we will be checking into some Venetian plaster or some sort of texture treatment to cover all the bare parts.

Mr. and Mrs. Grant Berning

We had a fabulous time watching Grant marry his lovely Melissa this past weekend. I somehow completely failed to get a decent picture of the bridal couple, so I stole this one from Matt. Don't they look happy? Melissa was breathtaking !
Jackson got to be the ringbearer, and Grant knew exactly what to get him for a thank-you present. A nerf gun complete with laser scope. Last night I found him on the stairway shining his laser at the ceiling. He had thrown one of those sticky toys on the ceiling (the kind that are supposed to "crawl" down the wall) and was trying to get it to fall down by burning it with his laser.
Probably the most exciting thing for Jackson was the shiny shoes that came with his tuxedo. He wanted me to take a picture of them:
Here we all are:
Chris Varvel's daughter, Addison, was the flowergirl. You might remember that Chris was the best man at our wedding - it was fun to see Addy and Jackson together this weekend.
The kids at the reception:
All the cousins had a super time at the reception. They were very impressed with the ice sculptures and fancy hors d'ouvres . Most of all, they LOVED to dance. Jackson was incredibly surprising - we were amazed at him dancing. Apparently the shoes really were special! Shelley sent me this brief video; it shows him dancing with complete abandon:

So, to sum it all up, it was a very special weekend filled with fun times and family. There are a lot more pictures posted on the other family blogs - check them out if you are interested!

Overheard

"Hey Luke, you know it's not a good idea to leave bad guys in a cage without feeding them. They can get skinny and slip out through the bars."

Don't come near our house, bad guys. We're too smart for you!

Inlow Baptist Camp

My cousin, Sandy, and her family manage a Baptist camp in the mountains south of Albuquerque. Last week, they were evacuated from their home (along with 150 campers!) due to an approaching forest fire. Sandy's created a blog to update everyone on their situation. I know she would appreciate your prayers! They are being told they will be without power for three weeks. We were without power for less than three DAYS this winter and I was a total baby about it. You can keep up with them by clicking here or by checking my sidebar.

Are they in love, or what?

We're gearing up for our big weekend in Bartlesville, at Grant and Melissa's wedding. Bet there will be lots of this going on:Anyway, we can't wait. The kids went and bought some fireworks last night (okay, Jerry and I were along also). I'm not sure what we'll do on the actual 4th of July, but sparklers should be a lot of fun around all that tulle and taffeta at the wedding, huh?

Jackson is a bit puzzled as to how his tuxedo is going to end up in Bartlesville (he's the ringbearer). He knows he tried it on here in Hutch, but we are not taking it with us. The whole concept of being "fitted" and "measured" is just beyond his comprehension. Also, he's not sure about the whole bow-tie thing. Hmmm.

So, Grant and Melissa, hope you are enjoying this week with all the excitement, anticipation, and butterflies. We think Grant couldn't have found a nicer girl, and can't wait to welcome her into our big family!

Camping, again

We got home from Camp Lakeside Friday with some tired kids. They immediately perked up, however, when Jerry offered to take them to play tennis (recently discovered: they all LOVE tennis). So they played while I did laundry. No, I'm not complaining, definitely not! It was 95 degrees out - not tennis weather in my book. They were all red-faced and sweaty when they got home, so we threw on some swimming suits and headed over to the pool. Luke and Jerry biked over to Mick's house - 2.6 miles on their bicycle odometers - and we swam for a couple of hours. Are you tired yet? Luke had been back from five days at camp about an hour, and managed to play tennis, bike, and swim all before bed! Oh, to be ten ;)

The next day we decided to break out the tent and have a campout in the yard. Well, they all slept in the tent , I slept in my bed.To complete our outdoor weekend, we went on a hike Sunday after church at the Sandhill State Park just outside of Hutchinson. We had the place to ourselves, literally. We were the only ones there. It was a pretty hike. We heard several quail but didn't see any wildlife.

Lunch, al fresca:
My hikers:
Possibly this is where we picked up the tick Jerry found in his belly button this morning.