Rusty & Dusty

Our county has a community band.
M plays his saxophone with it, and K plays her flute with it when she's home. Anyway, they wanted to encourage more people to get out their instruments, so each evening this week the director had a "Shake Off the Rust and Blow Out the Dust" band camp for anyone who wanted to refresh what they knew about playing an instrument.

So, this week I did something for the fun of it--I went to Band Camp!
Ching listened.......
but jumped up in my face to let me know she did not appreciate the fine sounds of my flute!
I usually send Ching and K.C. to the basement when I practice!

No Way!

Judi-gmj tells me it's the middle of June. No way!
HOW did that happen?!

There's a chance that getting ready for and putting on the pancake, eggs and sausage breakfast with other FCCLA family had something to do with it.

I suppose it could have something to do with a week of Vacation Bible School. "Rainforest Adventure"--I got to be the song leader again this year--hooray!

Maybe it was all those evenings watching the weather watches and warnings. Both girls were at camp, relatively close to Chapman and Manhattan, when the tornado hit those towns. We were also out of the path here, but we know a student from K's class in Manhattan who lost the roof to his apartment.

Possibly it was those days and evenings shopping for food and supplies, making funnel cake batter and Navajo taco shells, gathering and filling ice chests for cases of pop and bottled water, all for the concession stand we and the other family ran at Summerfest--our small town summer festival one beautiful Saturday.

Making 3 batches of homemade ice cream (two for the youth group's upcoming ice cream social) might have been a factor.

Or it could have been the days the next week baking for the traveling bake sale with the same family, as T and their daughter finished raising funds to go to FCCLA Nationals in Florida in July.

It might have been getting paperwork taken care of for the youth group's YouthWorks! trip. They left yesterday morning, and arrived at Gulf Coast Mississippi late this afternoon.

And maybe it had something to do with keeping up (barely) with laundry, dishes, etc.

No, probably not that last one!

Iris 23

What a Difference (six months can make)

December 2007June 2008December 2007June 2008Next time I'll post some close-ups of the different iris varieties B has planted all around the place.

May Events

T. graduated from high school on the 17th. Mom was here and K. was home from college, so we had an opportunity for a family photo the next day after church.
The next Saturday we played some croquet. (Summer has begun, even if not by the calendar!) Some of the cats were interested in checking out that round thing rolling across the lawn.Sunday evening, when we went to B.'s sister's to grill hamburgers and hot dogs, the sky looked like this.We about blew away when the front hit before we were done grilling! We had to finish inside with the broiler. Their neighbors (who were gone) have a dog who is afraid of storms, so she got to go inside too! She was a very well-behaved visitor.On Memorial Day, we went to a service at the church cemetery. Later in the day we helped take flags down from the military graves, which we had helped place last Wednesday. Didn't get a photo there, but it looked nice. The peonies are just barely starting to bloom, but there were iris.

We grilled again at home Monday noon.B. and M. got the corn planted this month, but there's been too much rain to get the soybeans in. It also makes it a challenge to mow some parts of the yard!

Almost Here

We're getting ready for T's high school graduation this Saturday, so it's rather busy around here. This evening was the school's academic banquet. Among other things, T was recognized for perfect attendance this year and received a local FCCLA scholarship!

Right now it sounds like the weather might cooperate. Here's hoping!

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Thursday Thirteen-Spicy Days

Subbing I've done this school year includes:

1. Elementary, middle school, and senior high special education
2. Business classes (accounting, yearbook, computers, personal finance)
3. Middle school boys, middle school girls, and elementary PE
   
4. World geography (sophomore boys)
5. 7th and 8th grade social studies and seminar (study hall),
6. H.S. weightlifting
7. Reading classes
   
8. H.S. math classes
9. Spanish
   
10. Family and Career classes
11. English
    
12. American History
    
13. Kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Grades
    

Variety is the spice of life!

Thursday (a day late) Thirteen-Signs of Spring in Northern Kansas

1. Daffodils
2. Tulips
3. Green grass
4. Robins
5. Yellow forsythia
6. Gardens being planted
7. Hyacinth
8. Longer days
9. Track meets
10. Birds singing
11. Crops going in
12. Bradford Pear blossoms
13. TEMPERATURES FORECAST FOR 34 degrees!!!

Yep, it's spring in Kansas!

Thursday Thirteen-of my Favorite Comic Strips

1. Calvin and Hobbes
   
2. Peanuts
3. Garfield
4. Get Fuzzy
   
5. Baby Blues
   
6. Frazz
7. Pickles
8. Family Circus
   
9. B.C.
10. Zits
11. The Humble Stumble
    
12. Kit 'N' Carlyle
    
13. Reality Check