From Farm to You Week!

How are we halfway through April?! This month is flying by! I’ve been watching more sportsball than normal this month, and the weather is being really crazy. In other words, April in Kansas.

One fun thing that happens this time of year is my office’s From Farm to You program. Minus a few COVID years, I have enjoyed seeing second graders come in every year and learn about agriculture since 2010. With the help of a lot of awesome volunteers, we set up 10 learning stations where the kids learn about crops, livestock, soil, and weather. New this year, we had a milking demonstration where most of the kids saw a cow milked for the very first time!

Helping kids make this connection is one of my favorite parts of my job. The fact that my entire office helps pull this off is another favorite part. It’s a long day, but it’s worth it. And I got 12,000 steps this year!

Another fun thing this week is that I got one step closer to creating multiple “cozy” spots in our house. When we moved in, we set up a nice space on the enclosed porch, it’s great on a breezy day. This year, I created a cozy spot on the front porch too. I found some awesome rocking chairs at the store, but they only had them in white. Luckily, they come in a ton of colors, so I ordered this awesome shade of blue and got a little gray table to go with them. It’s the perfect shady spot to read after work. I finished a book out there this week and love how it all turned out!

Most of the 50 pictures I took at FFY were of this precious baby!

Cutie! 

First of three groups getting ready to see the milking demonstration

Tippy was such a good girl!

Ready for front porch rocking!

Including this picture to document how tall Daryl is getting!

New Stadium and New Deck!

Started November off with my first KU football game at the new Memorial Stadium. KU played OSU, and they got the win! It was such a fun atmosphere, and I think OSU fans are the best in the Big 12. We all cheered for our teams and no one got rude. We had OSU fans in front of us and to our left, and everyone was fun to be around.

The last game the boys and I went to was in Stillwater, and the Cowboys came away with the W. They were still so nice and gracious.

Of course, half the fun is the band, mascots, and cheer teams. I think there was something for everyone, and we all had a good time.

Our deck has been built for a while now, but we finally got the last coat of stain on it, and I really like how it turned out. It’s not a huge visible difference, but now you won’t fall through it because of rotten boards. Yay!

Enjoy today and tomorrow, it’s going to get cold in Kansas on Sunday!

I will cut in front of some kids to get a picture of Baby Jay!

First smores at the new house!

New Deck, it is solid! 

Middle School Band and more!

We made it to our second Topeka High Football game of the year. Alex and the rest of the 7th and 8th grade middle school band performed a pre game show with the Topeka High marching band. They did great! 

I really hope that Alex continues with band in High School, it is fun to watch and listen to. 

On Saturday, Alex had a tennis lesson, Aaron had roller derby and I had an 11-mile long run. Felt like we all accomplished a lot. Oh ya, and Jeff finished the install of a light in the sewing room so it is more functional when I don't have bright sunlight. Yay! Now I need to get in there sometime this week after work and try it out. 

Mittens wants to remind everyone he is still around. He is getting brave and coming upstairs at night. 

 

Let there be light! 

One busy day!

This morning I got the long run in early so I could go to Alex's tennis tournament in Lawrence. This was his first USTA tournament, and while he didn't get the Ws, he learned a lot and knows playing better players makes him better. He left with his head down, but a couple of hours later he was ready to sign up again and he knew things he wanted to do differently. I thought he played really well. Match 1 and 3 were close and could have easily gone his way, his second match was a level of player he rarely sees and he still got some points. 

While our family is busy with everything else, our back deck is also being replaced. We thought it would be done in September but some wrong materials showed up, so it put us back a couple of weeks. I'm really hoping it gets done this week. I am missing our backyard! 

Bring on weather cool enough so we can sit and enjoy our new deck! 

The before picture, hard to tell but there is a lot of rot in this deck.

The in-process picture, hopefully an after picture is coming soon! 

Projects Day!

Sometimes you just need a day at home. Today was that day! Jeff got a screen mounted on the wall, finally hung all of our wall decor, I finished a shirt resize I got mad at two months ago, did a long run and finally got two trash-trees out of our landscape. Those trash-trees pop out of nowhere, and then in a week they are three feet tall. Nice trees don't do that, sadly. 

Yesterday, Jeff and I got to be volunteer bartenders for my Johnson County Extension Foundation friends. Tara promised it would be simple, and it was! It was nice to be able to help, because sometimes I feel like all I do is ask for help. So if you need free bartenders, that is something Jeff and I will consider. Just remember, you get what you pay for! LOL!

Next up on the sewing machine will be starting the Alpaca quilt. I would love to get that done in 2025!  

This may not look like a lot, but we hung stuff in many areas today!

From months ago, the before of my OKC half marathon finisher shirt!

The after! No close ups, this has more puckers than a lemon eating contest. The fabric was very slippery and since it is a running shirt, I did not go for perfection! 

Officially Cohabitating

 The month long move-in was complete this Saturday. Jeff's family and mine are now officially mingled! The unpacking of boxes will take awhile but so far this arrangement is exactly what we though it would be. Loud and fun when we are all seven in the house, and a little too quite when it is just the two of us. Like the large family that we now are, almost everyone had something to do this weekend. We had a marching band festival, roller derby practice, friend's birthday party, 4-H meeting and practice driving time. In between all of that, the movers got everything in the house. If that isn't a preview into our new life I don't know what would be! 

I know it won't always be easy and it won't always be fun, but it is mostly easy and it is mostly fun. I'll take it! 

Finally got to use the new placemats!

Daryl being Daryl

Jeff's youngest is always creating, this homestead he made was pretty cute!
You should see what he can do with Legos! 

There is now a place for everyone to sit in the living room!
Undecided if the coffee table will stay.....

Table for Seven

 Fun exciting things are coming for the crew. One being adding some placemats to a bigger table to accommodate all of us in October. Jeff and his three kiddos will be joining the craziness and we are going from a family of three (sometimes four when Grandma was in town) to a family of seven! The technical terms for 5 kids are; gaggle, pack, herd or bunch. Since Jeff and I both have co-parents they are rarely all there at the same time, but when they are...you know it! 

I haven't lived with another adult for seven years, so if you could keep Jeff in your thoughts that would be great. LOL First compromise, he is not using any of my closet, at all...so I think this thing has legs. <3 

Anywho, just in case you were wondering who the new faces were in my posts. Now, please admire the EIGHT placemats I made for our bigger table. 

Deck the Halls!

 Oddly enough, there are no Christmas decorations in the hallway...hmmm. But the Living Room and Dining room are decked! 

Alex started bugging me to put up the tree about two minutes after we got home from Thanksgiving. I waited until we were snowed in on Sunday to drag everything out of the basement. He helped me for a solid 15 minutes before he went outside to play in the snow. 

I don't know why I put off decorating. Once everything is up, it's perfect! I love the lights...just feels like Christmas now. Will I get lights put up outside of the house?! I don't know, the snow is going to have to melt first!  

Love to display my KU ornaments that I receive from 
my mom. A new one every year!

My Santa collection with my Christmas cactus!
It is officially "no playing in the living room" season!

The boys hand knit stockings and my 
ceramic Christmas tree! 

Alex was in charge of plugging in the tree!

Operation: Send Mom to Her Room

 More or less my bedroom refresh is complete! I still need to acquire two comfy chairs and a makeup vanity, but the heavy lift is done. I love my bedroom now, come this weekend I may not leave it! 

What all was done: 

New Paint

Removed Carpet

Installed ceiling light

Changed ceiling fan 

New Bed, Rug and TV 

Threw away a LOT of clutter! 

The space feels so much better and I'm glad I finally prioritized the project. It started with just wanting to get rid of the red wall in my room and turned into so much more. The last big project I did in the house was installing a shower and tile surround into the hall bath. That was almost three years ago, and I think every other year is the right timeframe for big inside projects. The mess is just too much to deal with all the time. 

You can kinda see the new ceiling fan

Good shot of the new light installed

Before picture with the hated red wall

Where my bed is now was the "desk" area
More like catching junk area

The House is a Mess!

 Last week I started my bedroom project. You may not think you have a lot of stuff in your bedroom but then you put it all in the living room and you realize how much you actually have. It doesn't help my bedroom is almost two rooms, but still everything is everywhere. 

The chaos is only about 4 days old and running around the house to just put together an outfit is old. 

Good progress was made, the paint is on the walls and the carpet has been pulled up. Still left is getting all the staples out of the floor, washing the floors and getting the furniture for a new set up. I'm starting to think I want a new ceiling light in the other part of my room but that would involve an electrician....ugh. Projects always grow. 

Looking to have this all done by May 21st. I don't think I could live with my bedroom in the living room much longer than that! 

The before picture with the red wall I detest and the old ceiling fan. 

The new color, so bright so fresh.
But it's crazy that there is still so much more to do. 

February Goals!

 So the daily habit tracker got a little easier in February. I had to make some adjustments because trying to finish all my daily habits right before bed was setting me up for failure. My best bet to hit all my habits is to take care of my 30 minutes of working out and 10 minute tidy up in the morning before work. Then my evening is still pretty much my own. Drinking the water hasn't gotten easier, but I haven't given up! 

Read 21 Books: 3/21

This month I read We were the Mulvaney's by Joyce Carol Oates. It was a great read about a large family that starts to fall apart from the inside out. Will the family find each other again and repair their relationships? You gotta read the book! 

Run 720 Miles: 127/720

I started some long runs this month, and I can still do them! I added 66 miles in a short month. Not too shabby! I even rested a couple of days because I remember what happened last year when I didn't rest. Trying to run smarter this year! My running highlight was going all the way around lake Shawnee last Sunday. No wind, beautiful temp, it doesn't get much better! 

Money Goals: With the help of my Tax return I actually knocked some of these out!! Yay!! 

Add 2K to Savings, Done Feb 2022 

Pay Mortg principle down 5K, I did make a principal payment in Feb. :-)  

New Living Room Furniture (Home), Done Feb 2022

Replace Some Windows (Home) 

Replace Window Blinds (Home) 

Create Backyard Oasis (Home) 

Trips: 0/3

I haven't taken any trips but a golfing trip with mom is on the books for April and Summer Vacation is on the books for May! "On the books" means I've made some payments and reservations, so no turning back! 

Days I hit all of my Daily Habits: 15, 4 more days than last month! I added a sixth habit not to waste money, if I buy something not in the budget, I wasted money. 

Daryl and Alex both finished books in February. Daryl read New Kid  and he read The Hunger Games in school. He enjoyed it so much his teacher lent him a copy of the next book in the series to read on his own. He is racing through it! Alex read Dog Man For Whom the Ball Rolls. Both boys are right on track for their 12 books a year. 

Reading his Catching Fire book while waiting in my office

Our new couch has recliners! Yay!














 

House Project Done!

It took three years but I have finally put a shower in the hall bathroom of my house. There has always been a shower in my bathroom but the hall bathroom is the one the boys use to get ready. Over those three years Daryl has been slowly revolting against taking baths. Since he will be a teenager next month, it was time to get him a shower. Also, I don't wish to share my bathroom with boys, ewww. 

So the bath to bath/shower combo was one of the first projects I wanted to accomplish in 2021! However, when I started calling contractors in February they were all booked. I finally got on a list and my contractor Weichert Remodeling was worth the wait! Once my project was started it was done in a week. That was with a holiday thrown in. 

I give props to Weichert Remodeling for making it look awesome and for not laughing when they asked what color grout I wanted and I said "Medium....." 

Props to Grandma Rosie for getting the shower curtain! 

And Props to me for picking out great tile! 

In August I will move to the next project on the list, replacing a few more windows! I took care of all the basement ones last year. Pretty sure the windows are original to my 100 year old house...... 

June Goal Update

How is it July already?! I'm not ready for July, but it appears it is going to happen anyway. Things are moving so quickly I'm just now wrapping up my June goals. June was a hard month for the goals because I was out of town almost two whole weeks. We had a family vacation one week and county camp a week after that. That is all for my excuses, the good thing about monthly goals is I get to start again now! 

And,  I didn't focus on eating vegetables this month, so I know I didn't have many. Weird thing, I felt better last month. Weird?! They don't taste like much, but my body likes them....I must science this more..... 

Read 20 Books: 10/20  

I only finished one book this month. I usually read before bed and most nights in June I was just too tired! Good news is I'm halfway done with this goal and we are halfway done with the year. Will keep chugging away with my reading goal. The boys are still working on their 10 books this year goal! Daryl has read 4 and Alex has read 5. I need to figure out how we will celebrate if we all make our reading goal. 

People we Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. This was on a reading list as a beach read. I wasn't going to the beach but it sounded good for vacation reading. It was a good book but the main character drove me a little nuts. Everything happens in the last 1/3 of the book and I'm glad I stuck it out for that. Just wish more happened in the first part of the book. Oh Well! 6 out of 10 bookworms from me. 

Run 800 miles: 437/800

I ran 59 miles this month. My goal was 65 miles and this is the first time I've missed my monthly miles goal since last June! That should tell me something about June in my life. Maybe make my running goal a little shorter in June? Someday I'll learn. My goal for July is 64, I really need to stay on track for a race in August. 

Money Goals: Very Exciting news, the shower is plumbed in and the tile is about halfway done! My contractor said he could start this week if he could finish after the holiday weekend. I told him sounds good to me! Beware the boys might be stinky come Tuesday! Only half way kidding, I have another shower but they don't like my shower....kids. 

• Pay Off my Car - Done March
• Replace my Car's Windshield-Done Jan. 
• New Fridge
• Fix Stairs
• Install a shower in hall bathroom and fix the sink in my bathroom
• Add $2,000 to savings 
• Replace some windows

Knit four new things: 1/4

I got a lot of progress done on my second project for the year at camp. I will probably jinx myself but this project could be finished in July! Exactly when every child needs a sweater!! 

This is what we have till after the 4th. I'm so happy 
that this is happening! We needed a shower in 
this bathroom.

Do you like the hot pink water resistant layer?
Look at my new window! 

Camp Knitting Progress, almost done with the body!

Took Grandma Rosie for Pedicures and 
a Steak Dinner for her birthday. Here she is with her
Strawberry cake! Of course I had to help eat it ;-)