Flash Floods are so much fun.

I know I've been absent this summer. Now that none of my kids take naps during the day anymore I don't find a whole lot of down time for blog writing as I used to. (I'm hoping that will change when school starts.) I found a few minutes tonight and thought I'd share some fun pics that are about a month old. 

During June SW Kansas had about 11 inches of rain which was delightful! One such storm brought 3 inches alone! And there is nothing quite as fun as playing in the flooded street after a storm...especially when you know all that glorious water will be gone by the next day. All that rain has literally transformed Kansas into a green carpet that, honestly, confuses me! I was driving down a back road just the other day that I barely recognized because it was so green!

Anyway, when it rains we take full advantage of the flash floods to play in the streets!! 

Childhood Magic via The Water Heater Guy



Earlier this week I came across this article from the Huffington Post, I'm Done Making My Kid's Childhood Magical. In the article the author reflects on how parenting has become practically a competitive sport and how parents are trying to schedule everything perfectly in their children's lives from perfect crafty playdates to the perfect birthday parties and how exhausting it is. (My sister made the point that this is exactly the reason she doesn't read parenting magazines any more, because they just perpetuate this notion that parents have to perfectly plan everything.) Not to mention how completely pointless it is because kids don't need grown ups to orchestrate it all for them since they are more than capable than doing it perfectly themselves. Which leads me to my water heater....

 

My water heater, without my realizing it, has slowly been dying! Yesterday afternoon The Water Heather Guy came to put in a new one and he was still here when the boys got home from school. Of course the boys stood outside the door and talked the poor guy's ear off while he was working. But then Mr. Water Heater did something awesome; he gave the boys two pieces of scrap foam pipe insulation, not to mention the giant cardboard box my new appliance arrived in.

 

 

My boys were thrilled! They spent most of the afternoon until dinner "sword fighting".

 

I didn't plan it.

They didn't plan it.

Mr. Water Heater Guy didn't plan it.

 

Nonetheless, Yip and Yap adored their new toys that cost them nothing.

Cost me nothing.

And got the boys out of Mr. Water Heater's way.

 

 

Had I tried to "organize" and "create" this moment for my boys it surely would have been a flop. I can't create that magical sense of daydreaming or losing time in their imagination. Kids have to do that for themselves.

 

 

If you have the chance read the article, I'm Done Making My Kid's Childhood Magical. It's a good read for parents, parents to be, and grandparents.

 

 

A Book Addicted Family

The kids just left for school and I just finished dishes. So I walked around the house to get started on my day when I realized my kids and I might have a problem. Books. They are always all over the house ... except the bookshelf!

Follow me on the literary trail through my house that was left over this morning.

On the blanket chest and chair; a dictionary, three books and a magazine.

On the window seat; two books, two magazines and a kindle.

Dining room table; two books.

Yahoo'a bedroom; a Bible, a hymnal, and three books.

My bedside table; a kindle, a devotional and two books.

Oh, and my sketchbook on the bed.

Yep. Books have always been important to me and it looks like I've successfully passed that gene on to my kids too! Now if only someone would invent a book that would reshelf itself.

Spring break art time

We are on spring break this week and the weather has already been crazy! Warm then cold then warm again. Wind, wind and more wind. Today is WINDY!

 

So we've decided to spend the day doing some artwork. Yahoo playing with a bit of clay.

 

Recognize these? They are plants from the Plants vs. Zombies game app. My boys love playing it, don't all boys like zombies? Hopefully I can convince Yip (it's cardboard so of course Yip built it) that they need to be painted and put in the 4-H fair this summer. 

 

 

Yap even tried his hand at making something from cardboard; Yip enjoyed being the "cardboard teacher" this morning. I can't say that Yap had any success...he made something from cardboard but he wasn't too happy about it. Sometimes I think poor Yap just hasn't found his niche yet. He's a Lego freak and he loves to read but those aren't qualities that shine easily in a tiny town where every one is sports obsessed.

I did get him to sit down and plan out a painting for his summer 4H project.

 



 

He loves all things military and war so he chose to draw out a German shepherd. Hopefully we'll get it painted before spring break is over.

 



 

I've been busy doing some of my own artwork today too. It's kind of hard to tell from the photo but I'm creating a giant stencil (3'x3') from laminated paper that I'm going to use on a red burlap aisle runner for a wedding. We'll see how it goes. The wedding isn't until October, which is good, because it may take me that long to get this to work!!

 

My proudest accomplishment of the day though was getting a belt on my Singer treadle sewing machine!! I stumbled onto a sewing store in Wichita over the weekend that services the treadle sewing machines at Wichita's Cowtown.

 

I've had this machine for over a year but with missing pieces. I'd really like to get it working. I was so excited about getting the belt that I totally forgot to look for a needle or the other missing pieces! But I made sure I grabbed their business card!!!

 

Today never warmed up or stopped blowing but I'm crossing my fingers that we'll have at least one nice day this week where we can get out and enjoy the short spring we are sure to have!

 

Orphan Train Museum, Concordia, KS

Over Christmas vacation DR, the kids and I took a little road trip and we found ourselves in the little town of Concordia, KS where we visited the National Orphan Train Museum. Before we visited the museum I had heard of the Orphan Train and I knew that it brought orphans from New York City and brought out west. I thought the train had only ran for a few years and only brought children to a few states out west.

 

 

In fact I learned the Orphan Train ran between 1854 to 1929. There were two main institutions in New York City that helped the children; The New York Foundling Hospital and The Children's Aid Society.

 

The relocation of these children was the beginning of organized foster care in America and many of children who were relocated were never formally adopted.

 

Over 250,000 children were relocated to all the 48 continental states. In fact it's estimated that 1 in 25 people in this country are related to an orphan train child.

 

With the large influx of immigrants to New York City in the late 19th and early 20th century homes were crowded and sickness and disease left many children orphans and many children on the streets while both parents worked.

 

Although the Orphan Train Museum was small it was set up in a way that was easy for children, who don't want to sit and read signs, to understand the concept of the orphan train. Large photos were mounted on the walls chronologically so that as we walked around the boys and I could discuss what was happening in each photograph and how the great poverty led children in need of help.

 

Though the Children's Aid Society did send many children out west on the trains they endeavored to teach children domestic skills and a trade as well.

 

What I found most interesting was that babies and older boys were the most popular children to be chosen from the trains and in fact children could be "ordered". Parents who were looking for a child could fill out a request form specifying gender, age, hair and eye color and organizations such as the Foundling Hospital who took in a large number of infants (foundlings) would do their very best to match children with parents.

 

It was interesting to find the National Center for the Orphan Train to be in such a little town of Concordia, Kansas but they received the records since Concordia was one of stops along the Orphan Train route.

So, I have to ask....can any of my readers say that they are a related to an orphan trian child?

 

Gingerbread houses, Year 5

The Christmas season was so busy that I didn't have a chance before now to post any pictures of our annual gingerbread house decorating day. Last year the kids decided to make one large gingerbread house but this year they decided to go back to little individual houses for each of them.

 

 

Once again we had just plenty of leftover Halloween candy to decorate with.

 

Wow, it's hard to believe that we've been doing gingerbread houses for 5 years now. I do believe that enjoy making gingerbread houses more than Christmas decorating!

 

Our "adopted" grandma Lavon came to decorate with us too. She brought tons of candy with her too. We were so overloaded with candy that I still have tons left a month later!

 

I wonder how many more years of decorating I'll be able to get out of my kids? I have a feeling that I may only get a couple more years out of my boys. I think they may feel like they are getting too old to do this kind of stuff.

 

Thanks Grandma Lavon for decorating with us!

Kansas...August...GREEN AND WET!!! Who knew THAT could happen???

So we're on the second day of September and being that it's a holiday I had some time to go through some photos of August. I have to say that this August was definitely the greenest I've ever seen Kansas! Some friends of mine who have lived here all their lives even told me that it's the greenest August they've seen too. We had quite a bit of rain the first couple weeks in August and it was greatly enjoyed by my kids. 

I think this rain came about the 11th or 12th. It was fast and quick but it flooded the street intersection next to our house. 

Every time we see it rain, I kick my kids outside to play. It's been so rare that we see this much water that I want my kids to enjoy it. I remember my childhood where there were always mud and puddles certain times of the year that we could play in and even as an adult I kind of miss it. 

Just look at my GRASS! I've had to mow more this summer than the last three summers combined! 

I even went through some old Kansas photos to compare the landscape. 

May 2011

Sept. 2011

August 2011

June 2012

Plenty of brown grass in the last few years. All this rain has been wonderful for my garden too. 

I've had a bumper carrot crop! 

My garden has done pretty well this year, other than the blight that hit and killed half my tomatoes. Blight is like fighting a losing battle! No fun at all. 

The first half of August came with plenty of rain but we finished out the last half of the month with 100+ degree days and no rain in sight. The rain gave us a little cushion but we could sure use some more. Harvest is starting later than normal, maybe in a couple more weeks and the harvest (according to my husband) is going to be better than expected and of course better than the last few years. Maybe, just maybe we're slowly coming out of this super severe drought we've lived in for the last 3 years. I'd like to think so but until my daily prayers include asking for rain.