Just walked into the storage room to pick up my paintbrush once again. I think I'm getting hives just by looking at it. Someday, I will be done painting. Then again, by the time that day arrives, it will be time to start over again. Today I am working on the soffet in the kitchen so Jerry can hang a new light fixture tonight. Tomorrow I need to get started on another room at the clinic. It's currently pink. Need I say more?
Imagine that you are a ten-year-old boy who has a fascination with all things football related. You play tackle football, and you have a game in some town you've never even heard of. You and your family pull into the stadium an hour and a half before your game. Yes, that's right. A stadium. You walk up to the entrance, and get your first glimpse of the field. Artificial turf. Your heartbeat speeds up. You start bouncing around. Especially when your dad says "Holy cow. I never got to play on artificial turf!" You watch your classmates on the other Buhler fifth grade team absolutely crush their opponents. Your turn is coming! As game time approaches, you and your teammates line up under the goalpost. The sound system starts blaring the deep, ominous bells "dong....dong....dong" and the announcer starts the lineup. You run out on the field and high five your teammates as the announcer says "Luke Berning, number 85!" and the crowd goes wild!!
Well, okay. Your mom and siblings go wild and the rest of the crowd claps. The ominous bell ringing is the prelude to "Hell's Bells," maybe not the most appropriate song to play before a fifth grade football game! But, the boys couldn't hear the lyrics, just the music. It really was a fun game. Luke's team won easily, defeating Maize 31-7. Luke made some good tackles and loved every minute of it. He is lined up here in the middle of the picture - closest player to us. Hard to see, I know.
Again, he's lined up on our side. Number 85!
It was an incredible place to play fifth grade football - Newton must have a lot of extra tax dollars laying around! They're going to think the Hutch High practice field that they have to play on when they play Hutch is awful.
In other news, Jackson played his first flag football game Sunday. His team won also, although the opponent's coach told his team that THEY won. He was quite a piece of work. Anyone who yells at his six and seven year old players like he did should be benched for the rest of the season. They're little kids! It's just a game! Jackson was oblivious to any of that, thank goodness. His coach is a lot more laid back. The way he should be! Here he is showing off his mouthpiece, which he is very proud of:
And here he is, sprinting down the field. He's the second from the left.
We spent the early part of the weekend in Syracuse visiting Marilyn. It was a lot of fun to see old friends. Aubrey spent most of the time with her good friend, Amy. Jerry and the kids toured the Sand Park. There wasn't room for all of us in the utility vehicle, so I stayed behind and visited with the guy who runs the place. It was interesting!
We went to Johnson Saturday morning to watch Paige and Amy run in the cross country meet at the golf course there. Paige easily blew away the competition - look at those long legs!
This picture was close to the start of the race - the girl in front of Paige is the one who beat her last week. Paige caught her shortly after this picture and was ahead the rest of the race. I got to see my dear friend Karin for about two minutes before the race started. Karin was flying to Dallas for her sister's 40th birthday party, and the airport was right across the road from the golf course. Good timing!
The boys spent most of Saturday playing football with Adam and Ryan. Luke and Ryan apparently haven't given up on Ron Prince the way I have:
Adam and Jackson soundly defeated them, from what I hear. Jackson said he made a ton of touchdowns.
They also spent time in the canoe on the pond:
and riding the four wheeler around. Aubrey's giving Ryan a ride here:
I don't think they missed us at all, do you?
Jerry and I spent the weekend at Crown Center for a chiropractic meeting. It was a fun time to check back in with old friends and make some new ones, and as always it's great to be in the city for a brief time. Wouldn't want to live there.... there was an art festival at the Plaza and I was one of three thousand people there that day. Yuck. No shoes for you, Gwen. I couldn't fight my way through the crowds!
The children were spoiled rotten at Nanette's over the weekend. It sounds like they thoroughly wore out Adam and Ryan and were covered in head-to-toe mud at least twice. Heaven!
And Cindy, it just wasn't the same shopping without you. Next year you're going to have to hop a plane and meet me there!
You guys. There is a squirrel in the tree out back literally tormenting Barney. It is chattering at him and throwing things on his head. He is out of his mind. I am out of my mind because he won't quit barking! It's funny though ;) He is dancing around and will not leave the tree, even though acorns or something keep hitting him!
Three posts in one day - a record!
Okay, not the best picture. I didn't clean anything up, Jackson's in the way, and the sun is shining in. But the cabinets are done!!!
You can see the wires hanging out of the junction box above the sink. We're replacing all the old florescent fixtures and are halfway through that process. I've got a gorgeous three-light pendant fixture to go over the sink. Pictures later.
Can you tell who Jackson is holding? He got home from school and asked his usual question, "Mom, what can I do?" It was a gorgeous day out, but he didn't want to ride his bike. None of his toys were fun anymore. We read some books, but then I had to start supper. His siblings were working on homework, so no dice there. Finally, I said, "I don't know, go make something." This is what he came up with. Spongebob the Second now lives at my house.
Note the K-State football jersey. The consensus at our house after last night is bye-bye, Ron Prince. Buh-bye. We couldn't even finish watching the game. Too painful.
Hmm. Usually I have ideas coming out my ears for blog posts, but lately it's been a dry spell around here. Nobody's been doing anything out of the ordinary, or if they do I don't have my camera with me! So, some quick updates on our lives....
* Jerry, Mick, Aubrey, and Luke took the boat over to Kanopolis last Saturday. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day - no wind, mid-70's, and almost no one else on the water. Jackson had a birthday party in the afternoon, so he and I loaded up and drove over after the party. We got there in time for a cruise around the lake, and then we set up the campsite. I stayed for marshmallows and then headed home. The rest of the gang spent the night in the tent, intending to spend Sunday fishing. The wind ruined their plans, though. It started gusting early in the night and was pretty darn cold by morning. The campers came home about 8:30. They had a great time though!
* Aubrey made jazz band, so we are looking for a tenor sax for her. If you have one in your closet, give me a call! We went over to Olive Garden in Wichita (her choice) last night to celebrate. Yum.
* For those of you planning a trip to Hutchinson for Thanksgiving, we rented Jumpin' J's party place for Aubrey's birthday on Friday (the day after Thanksgiving.) It is a big building full of inflatable boxing arenas, slides, and obstacle courses. We thought it seemed an excellent way to celebrate and let the kids burn off some energy all at once! The owner let me know that it is perfectly okay for adults to jump around also - can't wait to see the slide races some of you adults will get into!
* Jerry and his two assistants have a chiropractic seminar in Kansas City this weekend. I am going along to socialize with his friends' wives and to shop on the Plaza. He said they were all starting to wonder if he was really married, since I usually stay home. Hmm. Nanette is going to let the kids hang out at her place - they can't wait! We're still not sure what Luke is going to do. He hates to miss his football game, but he hates to miss a weekend with Adam and Ryan also. He is in a quandry.
That's about it around here! The weather's beautiful and my house is clean, so I'm headed outside for a walk.
Jackson's class spent all day Tuesday at the State Fair. It was a lot of fun, as field trips go. We had seven well-behaved children and two monsters. That's not a bad ratio! Here are the kids with Oscar the Robot:
The kids never clued in that "Oscar" was the man speaking into his cell phone a few steps away! It was so amazing to them that Oscar could carry on a conversation with them. A real, live robot!
Another fun activity was sponsored by the Fire Safety Program from the Community College. The firemen let the kids try on their gear and climb all over the fire trucks, inside and out.
We watched the pig races, the alligator wrangler, and a magic show. We all ate huge ice cream cones and saw the butter sculpture. A good day. Then on Wednesday every school in Reno County had a teacher inservice day so the kids could go to Ride-a-Rama at the fair. Aubrey went with a friend, but the boys were stuck with me. I have no pictures of Aubrey, but I guess she had a good time. She came home at 9:30 and was wiped out!
A highlight for the boys was the Army tent. We were able to say thank you to a few soldiers who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were so nice to the boys, and took a lot of time explaining the workings of four or five big guns, one was an M-16 and I have no idea what the others were. A grenade launcher was there, I think.
Here they are, flying by on the Blizzard. Remember the Blizzard, everyone? It's been around forever! It used to play the song "Wipe-Out" constantly, but now it plays lots of other songs very loudly. The operator on this ride was hilarious - he danced and lip-synched to the songs. He was a total carney - long ponytail, etc.
Jackson had enough money to buy a toy sword. He spied it on his field trip day and brought his money from home the next day. Luke doesn't have any money - he blew it all on a bow, remember? (A good purchase, by the way.) So he was pretty bummed that he couldn't buy a weapon. Anyway, later in the day we were walking through the Domestic Arts building so I could look at the quilts, which totally bored my boys. There were some benches set up in front of a demonstration kitchen, so I told them to sit down and rest while I browsed for awhile. The next thing I knew, they were both entered in a "Creative Culinary" contest. They had to make something out of some kitchen items within 30 minutes. The prize - $10.00
You guessed it, Luke won! He was interviewed for a short article in the Hutchinson News, and got his picture in the paper. More importantly, he had enough money to buy a 12-shooter rubber band gun. Much cooler than the sword. Luke is just golden like that - things work out for him! Jackson was a good sport about the whole thing.
Jerry met us for lunch at the fair, and the whole family went to the Jeremy Camp concert Tuesday night. All in all, a good fair week.
“I’ve been an imperfect servant of my country for many years. But I have been her servant first, last and always. And I’ve never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn’t thank God for the privilege. I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.”- John McCain in his acceptance speech at the RNC
I have to admit I was not exactly watching his acceptance speech very closely. The man is not a charismatic speaker, unlike his running mate. I did read a transcript of his speech though, and the above quote really struck me.
Luke's first football game as a Buhler Crusader was this morning. His team crushed their opponent, Hutchinson #2 (which I think means it was the weaker Hutch team) 32-0. Luke got quite a bit of playing time and did well, at least from my perspective. I was peering past the RAIN and through the UMBRELLAS to watch. We aren't sissies, we play no matter the weather! At least the temperature was in the fifties and there was no wind. We weren't freezing, just wet.
I'm gonna go get some hot chocolate and dry off!
Did you watch? What did you think?
Personally, I think McCain made a brilliant strategic move to save his campaign. Especially after watching him last night. Just can't get excited about him.
I keep giggling every time I get a note from Aubrey's school. It was built in the seventies, maybe early eighties, and is really a pretty nice facility. The funny thing is, though, that they don't have a separate auditorium for meetings. The cafeteria is made with a stage at one side so meetings and performances can be held there. What cracks me up is the name they've come up with for the space. They call it a "cafetorium" ! I don't know why that strikes me as funny, but it sure does. Maybe after four straight years of having kids in the middle school I'll get used to it! Either that, or they'll finally pass their bond issue and add an auditorium on to the building :)
Aubrey has auditions for jazz band at 11:44 this morning. She is nervous! There are eighty kids trying out for twenty spots. I'll let you know how it goes.
Jackson had his first flag football practice last night. He enjoyed it. He thinks he's pretty big stuff, getting to do something Luke never did. It sounds like practice was utter chaos, but what do you expect with first graders?
