Tanner is 6

We had a small birthday party for Tanner on his birthday July 1st. His Daddy has been working on the floods in Iowa for almost a month now! Dawn and the two boys are heading up today to Cedar Rapids to spend the weekend with Paul. The boys really miss him alot.

Susie's Grandaughter

Sue sent along this picture today of her grandaughter, Sophie. She is the absolute apple of Paul and Sue's life.
Paul and Sue are working hard to completely remodel their home--inside and out.
Hope you all had a great weekend!

A Day of Celebration......

This afternoon CMSU called Cindy and said that her secondary Teaching Certificate had been approved. I'll not go into detail about the nightmare this has been! Also, with this certification , Cindy has also completed her Master's Degree in Secondary Education.
As you can tell.......I am about to bust my buttons.
Oh Happy Day!!!!

Very sad....

Hillary's speech was great......but, I am very, very sad today!

Lots and lots of rain at Bennett Spring. Our camper is nice size, but the storms were still scary...I am glad we got home last night for the big storm instead of being in the camper.

Sam and Grandpa...

We came home several days early due to storms. It's not much fun to sit in our "tin can" and see, plus feel the rough weather. Sam had a fantastic time helping to drive the golf cart, feeding fish, looking for snakes and trying to avoid the ticks. We all laughed and had a good vacation at the camper.....Cindy really felt like she had a break.
We are all just numb about Hillary!

School is Out Today....

Sam and his family will be joining us at Bennett for a week - we are all looking forward to the break. We are also hoping the rains will stop. This is a picture of the spring and it is putting out twice what it normally does.
I will take Fleta's cell number with me and maybe we will be able to connect down at Springfield- it sure sounds like he has a long road ahead, but that progress is being made. Our conitnued thoughts and prayers for both of them.

Beautiful shoe.....

Well, I did go to the Dr. yesterday morning and I have a small stress fracture in my left foot. So, for a week I will be wearing a beautiful blue shoe/boot that does not bend. I'm looking just wonderful for the meetings I have this week, but it sure doesn't hurt quite as bad. Sure glad I got all that mulch down before this experience.
Now I just do little spurts of housework, then sit down and ice the darn thing. Sure makes for a good excuse not to do too much!

Mulch and More Mulch...

Mike and I have been putting out new mulch all around our house this last week.... at last count, 85 bags. Also, I went on a field trip with Sam on Friday to the KC Zoo. The huge swinging bridge about did me in - I really think I have a stress fracture in my right foot - sure does swell up when I take my shoe off and it really does hurt. Just may have to go to the Dr. if I have a night like I did last night.
Sure thinking about and missing you all!

Bennett Spring.....

This afternoon I am heading down to Bennett with Cindy and her good friend Rhonda. Cindy needs a real break before finishing the last few weeks of school, so this is my Mother's Day gift to her. We always laugh and giggle on these trips~plus do a little shopping at Antique stores and Thrift stores. It should be a fun weekend.
Happy Mother's Day to each and everyone of you - enjoy your special day.

Farm Painting

For right now, this is the best shot I can take of the farm painting Aunt Winnie did in 1977. I have always enjoyed her paintings - for being self-taught, I sure thought she did a great job. This is the 2nd time she painted the farm. I think Barb has the original she painted. Jim always loved it. Mom always thought she put in one extra chicken house. When Aunt Winnie gave me this, she told me the name of the three horses in the field. but the only name I can remember is "Dolly". Hope you enjoy!

Had Trouble

Fleta just could not figure out if this door opened left or right~she was lucky to have me there to open it for her.
It is really wild around here, we did not lose power or have any damage and neither did our children. When you
look at the aftermath of the Stage 3 tornado that hit so close - we say once again how very blessed we are.
Also, I feel so blessed to have once again connected with my cousins - Fleta and George are just the greatest for
inviting me to stay with them. It was great to laugh through our tears.
Patsy - I sure hope your entire day was fantastic and once again, you are so lucky that I didn't sing to you this morning.

Results....

The hearing just ended with these results....
The student will be back in school Monday.
She will be enrolled in an anger management group for 2008-2009.
She will enjoy a "fast pass" to the counselor anytime she feels overwhelmed by anger.
She will not be in Cindy's class next year.

So...here's my take....hit a teacher- then hire a lawyer. If you are black in our district, nothing will happen to you.

We do, however, hope this is the end of the matter. We do hope that she does not sue Cindy, which is what has been said outside of school.

I don't care what age your child is......when they go through something like this, it is really hard to swallow.

April 1, 1883

This is a tribute to the wonderful Grandpa that ties us all together. I can never picture him in my mind without a smile.
Now as a Grandmother, myself, I think of his wonderful example of taking time and loving each of us. Grandpa always had
time for us.........I loved him so very much. In the picture on the left, he has Tommie Lou on his lap and the picture on the right
is Tommie in front and I am in the back. It sure was the simple things in life that made us "giggle" as children. My brain just will not wrap around 125 years old.
To each family member~ I wish you a special day today! To all the rest, I wish you would have known my "Grandpa".

Great experience.....

I'm really glad I went to the District Caucus last night - I now know how to run as a delegate in the future. We elected for Hillary, 1 woman, 2 men and 1 woman alternate. For Obama, they elected 1 woman and 1 man. Somehow this combination is relevant to the number of votes that were cast for each candidate.
If last night is any indication, I am glad that I am not going to Convention in August. I think it will take a miracle to pull the two sides together to defeat McCain.
I'm really glad I went and had this experience....

South Pacific...

I recently watched a movie from my past, and it is called "South Pacific" ~ in High School this was the theme of our Senior Prom and I just loved the movie, so seeing it again brought back many found memories.
I was particularly struck once again by the song, "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" and I really think the words from this song should be listened to by each of us. The theme of the song is that racism is not born in you! Racism happens after you are born!
As much as everyone has tried to make us white folks understand that we don't have a background of oppression, so we are not able to relate to what Pastor Wright is saying, I just don't understand why Obama went to that church for over 20 years. Apparently he was not outraged by what was being said from the pulpit.
However, my biggest objection is that this bigotry towards white people is what the little children in that church today are hearing and being taught......there is no mistake about the words that are being said. Barack took his children to this church Sunday after Sunday. In my way of thinking~ "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" before you are 6, 7 or 8, just like the lyrics to the song say.

The Three Amigos..

These three guys can sure "giggle" together. This was taken last weekend when we were down in St.Louis. It was pretty hard to keep up with these guys~they figured out how to all three ride the exercise bike.
My favorite line of the weekend came from Sam. He absolutely loves fresh blueberries and when he came into the kitchen he wanted me to give him some blueberries. I said, "Sam, you will have to wait a few minutes until we have dinner and I put the blueberries in a fresh fruit salad." His response ~ "Good Grief" ~ and with that he walked out of the kitchen. Sam just has a way of cutting right to it.
Sure hope you all have a wonderful, spring-filled Monday with no "Good Griefs"!

Happy Easter..

What a glorious morning......I wish the blessings of Easter to each and everyone that reads my blog. We all need to center our thoughts and lives on the meaning of Easter and rejoice in this beautiful day!
The absolute worst day in the history of the world was on the Friday before Easter Sunday......and yet, look what a miracle happened just three days later....Jesus arose from the dead and now lives in Heaven to give us each the understanding and blessing of life eternal.
I hope your day is just fantastic!

We Need Spring!

I haven't posted for awhile because we have basically been running an infirmary here at the house. There is a horrible flu that has hit KC, and it turns ugly before you start to feel better.
All the males in our family have had or do have this bronchial stuff ~ Mike started to take a turn for the better last night and this morning. I will certainly be happy to see blue skies ~ like Patsy, I have lost track of the last day I saw the sun. However, I did see a robin yesterday!