Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Springtime and Daddy Fun

Last week was beautiful, as I mentioned in an earlier post, and Max was home the whole week after getting back from his deployment. Here are some pictures of the fun that the kids had.
Max took JB fishing at a nearby pond. I don't think they caught anything, but I'm sure it was a fun time of casting, reeling in, and having man-to-man conversation.





The kids have been enjoying the swing set and fort together. JB and Max brushed some sealer on the swingset because the wood was rather thirsty and looking worn from the sun and weather. Apparently they had a little too much fun which was evidenced by the turpentine smell in JB's hair and spikes from the effort to wash it out of his hair. The little pool came out several times last week because it got into the 80s and 90s.

Max also built a sandbox (which you can see in the background of the picture of JB in the little pool) for the kids underneath the fort. It's a pretty big one: it is 6x6' and took about 40 fifty pound bags of sand to almost fill it. He also made a cover for it that is on hinges and folds down onto the ground. This way cats won't make it their big litter box.

We bought a self-propelled lawn mower and Max and I took turns mowing our yard, which is about 5 times the size of any yard I've ever mowed (Max claims he's mowed bigger using a push mower). Max did a lot of work getting the sprinkler system working, replacing some sprinkler heads, and trouble shooting the system, since it kept coming on when it wasn't programmed, shooting strange directions, and things like that.

There are beautiful flower bushes bloomings in our front yard. We found out last week that they are called Peoneys. The flowers look like humungous carnations and weigh down the branches so much I had to tie the flowers to a trellis. It's been fun learning more and more about gardening as we plant seeds, water grass and garden, tie up bushes, cut grass, cut branches off of overgrown trees, and just enjoy God's creation.

Weather update: yesterday was my first real tornado siren experience (my first tornado siren experience was just a test and very loud). The past two days have been full of thunderstorms and yesterday evening some tornados were seen forming near Derby and then weakened. Max, the kids, and I went down to the basement bathroom for about 10 minutes and listened to the radio we had in our tornado kit. It was a good "drill" (even though it was a real warning) to get to know if we actually have all of the stuff we need in our tornado kit. I brought diapers down at the last minute, but realized wipes would be useful too. A blanket and more snack food would also be good to have down there in times of another warning, which could be worse the next time around.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Max is home!

We are enjoying him home while we have him. Max returned Monday after twenty something hours of being awake, flying for 12 of those hours. Needless to say, he was tired upon returning, but very happy to be home with his family and the greenness of Kansas after the brownness of the desert.

God blessed us with a beautiful week, which Max had off from work after getting back from the desert of the Mid East. We did a lot of work on the lawn and vegetable gardens. Now there are little sprouts coming up and some things dying off with Tamsey being too eager to get young plants in. Hopefully by Julyish we will be eating our own veggies and cooking with our own herbs.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Little Hawaiian Princess

Here is Gloria on our front yard in a very" lady-like position", but still looking pretty, I think. This is an outfit that her Daddy got her on his trip to Hawaii in January.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Catching up - Colorado

I have a lot to catch up on in this blog if you really want the essence of Tamsey's world. The kids and I went to Colorado for a little over two weeks and now we are back in Kansas. As always, Colorado is beautiful and it was great seeing family - Gramma Shell, Grandude Duncan, Aunt Cami, Uncle Eli, and Max's uncle and aunt, Jerry and Francie (they were in town for the Lincoln Day Dinner, for Duncan and his campaign, and for a wedding in Colorado).

I'd have to say it was not such a relaxing trip, but I was still very glad I was there. I got to know a lot of people better, such as a few homeschooling families, who gave of their time and energy helping to clean up the house while Michele was in the hospital for a week and a half (complications with foot surgery). It was a great time of strengthening both friend and family relationships, staying with in-laws, but also my second set of loving parents and wonderful grandparents. I had some relaxing and fun times with Cami and Eli, who took me under their wing for a couple of weekends, while the grandparents watched the kids overnight. I got to see some of the logistics of a congressional campaign (Max's dad running for the House seat in Colorado), and go to a big republican fundraiser, which was a first.

The kids and I visited Gramma Shell in the hospital, which all of us enjoyed. We especially enjoyed going out to the courtyard of the hospital with Gramma Shell. The courtyard had a fountain and lots of sunshine, which was especially good for Gramma Shell who had been in the hospital room for a week without feeling any sun! The kids also loved getting rides with Gramma Shell in the wheel chair and picking up icecream on the way to the courtyard. Michele is at home now and we are just praying for further healing of her foot. She may have to have some more surgeries to remove dead flesh, but we are hoping for complete healing and soon!

Last, and certainly least, but always a lot of fun, the animals. JB and Gloria love playing with the farm animals. Since Michele was out of commission for feeding the animals, I learned some about taking care of the animals. I got pretty good at feeding the chickens scraps, stealing eggs from the chickens with heavy-duty gloves on, and giving hay to the horses and sheep. Taking care of the animals was fun, especially in the morning, because JB and Gloria loved to come out with me and see the animals.

I was pretty busy in Colorado and am still busy here getting ready for Max to come home!! Sorry for the large time gap in between posts. When I came back to Kansas everything was so green and there were lots of flowers on the trees! Our thermometer outside is reading 100 degrees right now and it's only April!! Max may not get a lot of relief from the desert heat when he returns, but we sure are looking forward to having the man of the house around (not that JB wasn't a good filler:)).

Just a note about JB's helmet that you see a lot in the pictures: I'm not an over-protective mom, he just loves wearing his riding helmet for some reason. However, I can't tell you how many times I have said, "good thing you had your helmet on" when he's just going about everyday life.

Bath Time

This is the only time they are allowed to color on the walls. Grafitti in the bath tub. It is also the only time that they gladly clean up their "mess."

What's wrong with this picture?


Zephyr wasn't too sure about this scene...quite disturbing actually.