A game I wish my daughter didn't have to play.

We live in a tiny Southwest Kansas town of 900 where it seems everyone knows everyone. DR and I have lived in 5 states and a variety of different communities and the one we live in now is by far my favorite! I've never lived in a community that looked out for one another like this one and where I've felt so very welcome. 

To top off living in just a wonderful community we just happen to live right across the street from Yip and Yap's school and two blocks from Yahoo's preschool. Any activity going on at the school, well, we have a front row seat for. Any game night Rebel fans cars are parked all around our house. On prom night DR and I throw open the windows and enjoy all the oldie music the kids dance to. 

This school started off with no exceptions. A week before school started the parking lot was regularly full of teachers cars as they congregated for training and meetings. 

However, a few days before school though there was some activity that raised my eyebrows. The school parking lot was full of a dozen county police officers at 8:00 am. The officers, many that I knew, didn't seem distressed as they drove in, chatted and mingled together as they went inside. They spent the entire day in the school. What on earth could they be doing in the school ALL DAY? 

Later I found out from a friend, who works at the school, that (duh) the police officers were spending the day at the school doing what I guess you would call a training procedure with the teachers. A couple of the officers were the "bad guys" and the others went through the school, room by room, in formation just as they would if an intruder were to come into the school. Then they showed the teachers if such an event occurs where students should go within each classroom. Our school is teeny tiny and logically I know that a school shooting here is extremely unlikely but I also understand that school administrators, understandably, feel the need to take precautions. (We have a GREAT superintendent by the way!) 

I didn't think much of the safety training and procedures being put in place at the school though. My boys are old enough, almost 9, to understand about why such procedures need to be in place. Sometimes dangerous people show up in schools. I haven't discussed with them in any detail the deaths of Sandy Hook or Columbine students. We've routinely discussed what to do if a stranger tries to take you and things along those lines of course, so they have a healthy level of, I don't know if I'd call it fear, but preparedness.

What really hit me in the heart this week was Yahoo coming home from preschool, which is right next to the boys' elementary school, and she was telling me about the "Intruder Game" they played at school. My heart skipped a beat.

"What's the Intruder Game?" I asked with my heart in my throat. 

Yahoo happily skipped down the sidewalk and innocently answered, "My teacher says "Intruder" and then we all go hide in the bathroom." What really hit me was that there was no fear whatsoever in her voice. Yahoo is more scared of ants biting her feet than she is of an intruder in school. She doesn't understand what it is they are preparing for.

I don't know how I feel about this Intruder Game honestly. Oh, I think the teacher is doing a great job and preparing them for a highly unlikely event with as little drama as possible and that's fantastic. 

But I'm conflicted. Should I be thankful and relieved that this class of four year old's are so very innocent that preparing for a school shooting is something they have to do by playing a game? Or should I take all of this school preparedness as a sign I need to speak to my kids more about preparing for violence against them? In my heart I feel that they need to stay innocent as long as possible. I don't want to scare them. I don't want to put those images in their head they they'll worry about. I don't want them fearful where ever they go. But I also want them prepared. Or maybe I shouldn't worry about them being prepared for violence but lovingly provide them with the social and emotional support so that if they are affected by violence they'll have a network to fall back on. 

What is your school doing different this year? Any thoughts? Concerns? 

Guns are a symptom.

For the last couple weeks I've been pretty silent here on my blog. I could probably chalk it up to a couple reasons; substitute teaching, our window project, preparing for Christmas. These were all things that kept have kept me busy the last couple weeks. But really, I don't think it's any of them. I think the biggest deterrent to my blogging was the Sandy Hook shooting. 

It was certainly a tragedy, of course, however the sensationalist media who swooped down into Connecticut sickened me. I don't need to see a crying child on television to know that this was an awful incident. I don't need to see cameras at the funerals. After a couple days I couldn't bring myself to read one more blog/news story about the shooting. 

Then came the gun debate. "Ban all guns!" Please...that would create a huge backlash by gun owners and seriously, isn't even a realistic option. Then the NRA comes out and states, "every school in America should have an armed guard in their school at all times." At this point I was so livid I couldn't bring myself to blog about anything. Now I've grown up with guns all my life. My parents are 4-H shooting sports instructors so I was raised to be safe and responsible with firearms. I enjoy shooting guns and I think that we should have the freedom to own guns and carry guns if we are deemed fit. 

But I honestly believe that in the case of the Sandy Hook shooting guns was not the problem. Guns are a symptom of a deeper problem that won't be solved by the banning of guns, more gun laws or putting guns in every school. Three of the deadliest massacres in the United States were caused without any type of firearm; 9/11, Oklahoma City Bombing and the Bath Massacre. Violence isn't caused by access to firearms. 

I've heard all the arguments saying that if we, as a society, truly cared about our children then we would do everything possible to protect their well being by putting guns and armed guards in schools. There are more children's deaths caused by drowning every year than by guns but I'm not constantly hovering over my kids while they bathe. If we really cared about the well being of our children, ALL OF OUR CHILDREN, then as a society we would spend more resources and time with kids like Adam Lanza, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. Let's put our resources into more counselors in schools and a school psychologist in ever school rather than having one psychologist serve numerous schools. More teachers in schools so there is more one on one time between teacher and student. 

We need to put our resources, not into armed guards, but into creating a caring community within schools where numerous adults and role models have formed caring relationships with students of all ages. A community where a teacher doesn't have the fear of losing their job simply by hugging a child. We need to create a community where all students feel cared about rather than being shuffled between teachers and parents as an object rather than a person. 

Let's create a mental health system that supports our kids rather than punishes them. A system where a parent can actual afford the services their children so desperately need. In some cases an ADHD screening for a family without insurance is close to $2000. A screening. That doesn't include any services! 

If we truly cared about the well being of our children we would start WITH our children and learn about them individually as people rather than treating them as though they only merit our full attention when they become adults. 

Guns are a symptom. Sometimes guns are a symptom of being ignored and not cared for. Sometimes guns are ways to gain attention, any attention. Sometimes guns are a symptom that a child is loved. A symptom that a child has adults that care enough to spend time with them, teach and listen. Guns are a symptom, not a problem. 

Merry Christmas Morning!!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas morning! 

We were cold here with a bit of snow and a LOT of wind and Christmas morning here was quite entertaining, but I think any house with kids probably had an entertaining Christmas morning. 

(Quick cute story....on Christmas Eve DR and I were tucking Yahoo into bed. After reading with her and tucking her under the covers and the required number of kisses and hugs she looked at us both quite seriousl and said, "Now QUICK run to your bed and go to sleep!" As if Mom and Dad going to sleep would make Christmas come sooner! )

Yip has been wearing these slippers non-stop since Christmas, seriously I can't see how he can actually walk in them. He was easy to shop for this year; bear slippers and duct tape was pretty much all he wanted. 

Check out the look on that boy's face when he opened up a roll of 5 bright new duct tapes!!! 

Funny!! 

Miss Yahoo too was easy to shop for as well, anything pink and Princess! I searched Amazon until I found a reasonably priced metal tiara, one that wouldn't snap the first day of wearing and playing. I'm so happy I did because she has already bent it much farther without breaking than a plastic tiara would have survived. 

Now I am a tomboy and though I did wear dresses as a little girl I was never much for pink, glittery, frilly things. Yahoo is MUCH different than I am. I try to avoid surrounding her with over the top girlyness. 

My sisters, however, seem to think their only job is to help make Yahoo as girly as possible! 

Oh. My. Goodness.

I don't know what my sister did to that tule skirt but I had glitter all over my ankles! 

One of the coolest and most creative gifts the boys received this year was from my sister who sent them an entire box of PVC pipes and connectors. It's like a giant building set. Very cool! 

We actually had two Christmases on Christmas day. Since this was the first time we weren't traveling to spend time with family I've been receiving boxes for the last couple weeks from them. My brother Mountain Man was able to come over later that afternoon when we opened the second half of Christmas presents. Whew! I'm glad that's over. I felt like my living room exploded twice! I didn't take nearly as many photos of the day as I would have liked, I was too busy enjoying my family. 

Santa and Papa Doug were especially good to Yip and Yap this year with gifts of air pistol and rifle and pocket knives! My house has also been covered in wood shavings since Tuesday, HA! More on that tomorrow! 

A long, sad vacation.

Hello my loyal blog readers,


I bet you are all thinking that I have fallen off the face of the Earth. Close...I just returned from spending the last two weeks back home in Indiana which is so vastly different than SW Kansas that it feels like another world. And I already really miss Indiana. I've only been back in Kansas for a day! 


DR and I didn't plan on being gone for two weeks. No, we planned on leaving on the 18th of May, visiting my family in northern Indiana and then seeing DR's family in southern Indiana, attending a high school graduation and being back home on Memorial Day, the 28th. But our stay was extended, unfortunately, and we didn't make it home until the first of June.


While we were in southern Indiana my Grandpa Asa passed away and we stayed the few extra days until his funeral. What a time it has been, both wonderful and terrible. It's terrible that we lost our grandpa but wonderful that he was promoted to Heaven and no longer suffering from the effects of Parkinson's. It was wonderful to see so many of my family and friends that I rarely have the chance to see on our short visits home but terrible that it had to be a funeral that brought us all together. 

We'll miss you Papa Asa. He was buried in his bibs and seed hat too. He wouldn't be my grandpa without them :) 


Our family packed in a lot in two short weeks. Two weeks that felt as though it went on forever but also went by in the blink of an eye. Although it was sad that we had to attend a funeral, all of my siblings were together. That rarely happens. 

I think it's been a couple of years since we've all been together. 

We visited Grandpa just a few days before he passed away and were able to steal Grandma away long enough to enjoy some time to the zoo. 

Some AWESOME shooting time with Papa Doug. The boys shot muzzleloaders and shotguns for the first time and boy, are they hooked! No matter that their shoulders hurt a bit...they weren't going to stop. 

Yahoo terrorized a couple of kittens who finally learned to hide from her! 

Attended a graduation! Congrats Cousin Evan :) 

We couldn't make it out of Indiana without visiting DR's alma mater, Purdue University twice! We spent sooo much money on Purdue clothes because, as DR puts it, "I'm just dang tired of seeing all the Kansas State purple!"

Oh, we are posed holding our town paper. They like to publish photos of people traveling with a copy. Funny because the owners are University of Kansas fans. 

DR and I even managed a couple of date nights. 

This isn't a great picture of anything other than being a good reminder that we were kidless :) 

Uncle John Deere was awesome enough to rustle up a bunch of sparklers to play with. This was especially appreciated by the kids since they couldn't have fireworks last summer. 

This is just a sample of the tons of photos from our trip home which I'm trying to load up on Facebook right now for you family but I'm not sure how successful I'll be. There are a LOT of photos. 

Our trip was great. Long and sad but great nonetheless. I'll be forever grateful that we were able to be home and say goodbye to Grandpa Asa. I have so much to be thankful to him for. He was a wonderful grandpa not just to me but to my kids too. He reinforced the value of hard work and to deeply enjoy any and every moment to the fullest. I love you Grandpa and we'll miss you terribly. 

Week 7 - Plug

Week 7 - Plug

I really didn't want to shoot an electrical plug or anything obvious like that. I was trying to think of things that plug holes; a pacifier in a baby's mouth, dang..no more babies in the house. 

Then I stepped on a Nerf dart. Man!! Yip has three or four different Nerf dart guns and I am ALWAYS picking up Nerf darts all over the house. 

 But...Nerf darts PLUG up a hole in the Nerf gun. Great!! I've got my subject. 

1/125 sec., f 7.1, ISO 1600

I only got four pictures taken before Yip got tired of modeling for me. If he had been a bit more patient I would have played around a lot more with depth of field. As it was, I was probably really lucky to get these shots. HA! 

1/100 sec, f 6.3, ISO 1600

Next week's, Week 8, theme is Fall.
Well wrong time of year to shoot pics of pretty leaves.
I sure hope I don't have to take a picture of boys falling. That could only mean an injury.

Anyone else out there doing any kind of photo project? 

One Last Hurrah

The big old snow we had about three weeks ago has just about all melted away......except for a few piles left on street corners or in shadows. 

Last week five little boys spontaneously converged on one of the last snow piles on our block. One last hurrah!

I love watching little boys play because there is some sort of unspoken order among what looks like chaos. There were toy guns, shovels, bikes, wrestling upon the pile of snow. But never one fight or disagreement. 

From my untrained eye, it seemed like there were three or four things going on all at once on the snow. Girls don't play like that. Girls are much more soap opera-ish. Boys seem to be a lot more flexible in their play. I was wishing I remembered more from my college Child Psychology class. Girls and boys are so different it boggles the mind that they can survive in the same room for ten minutes. 

Have you noticed though that the youngest boy who was probably 4 or 5 years old (striped shirt on the right) didn't hardly move in five  pictures? I imagine he must be soaking it all in, everything those big boys (ages 6 and 7) said and did. 

There was some friendly competition; racing and jumping. 

Coincidentally my boys are both gone tonight (Sat.) at a sleepover at a friend's house as I write this post. My evening has been spent playing games and eating dinner with only DR and Yahoo. 

My house is so quiet..unnerving really...but I'm enjoying the silence nonetheless. 

This evening is making me look forward to the day they both leave for college. Just kidding..kinda...

Shooting Sports

It's 4-H time! I'm happy to say I was a 10 year 4-H member in Indiana! But I'm even more happy to have started my kids in 4-H now too. Kansas 4-H is very different from Indiana I am finding out. (Sometimes things are even different from one county to the next in Indiana.) Even though Yip and Yap are only 6 they can participate in 4-H activities here but can't technically exhibit as a 4-Her until they are 8. And while the boys aren't too cracked on the idea of attending (boring, sit down) 4-H meetings, they were more than stoked to attend their first shooting sports meeting last week.

Wait!! You can't shoot yet boys! Time for some safety lessons first.

They are required to learn the parts of their gun, safety rules in handling their gun and the various shooting stances before they are allowed to shoot at meetings. And of course they have to put those safety rules into practice or they won't be allowed to participate.

Kneeling

Prone

Sitting

Standing

The boys were more excited to after school to study their shooting sports than do their schoolwork. And schoolwork was easier!

I'm an advocate for 4-H shooting sports for a couple reasons;

First, my boys are excited about it along with lots of kids around this country. There is a growing population of young girls excited about shooting. Hence, all the pink guns now being offered in gun stores. Whenever a kid is excited about anything it becomes a great learning opportunity when he or she is guided by wise, knowledgable and caring adults.

Secondly, shooting sports teaches responsibility and safety not just for themselves but for others. Yes, guns can be dangerous when not handled properly but safety is the cornerstone of shooting sports. When handling a gun kids are taught not to think only for their own safety but for the safety of those around them. In this "me, me, me" culture our kids are being raised in, shooting sports requires them to be aware of their actions towards others and others actions towards themselves and to take responsibility for those actions. I've seen young kids call out older kids because the older kids weren't being safe with a gun. Shooting sports gives those kids a voice to hold others and themselves responsible for their actions. That sense of responsibility reaches other parts of their lives and then kids aren't always "me, me, me" but are turning their thoughts to the idea of "us, us, us".

I was raised around guns my entire life. Shooting and handling guns has taught me life lessons I'm glad to have. I'm happy to offer the same opportunity to my own children.