SBL - Rockets and Shakes...Year 4

I guess I've said all there is to say about Rockets and shakes.

We've been doing this for 4 years now. Mostly the same people come. The boys shoot the rocks up, the kids run as fast as they can to be the lucky one to catch the parachute, and the ladies set up chairs and catch up with each other.

It's lovely.

And this year, I just can't get over how truly beautiful Kansas can be.

It's home.

Summer Bucket List - Arkansas adventures

Even with Ethan out of town, we can really pack a car!

We stayed with John and his family for the night.

The kids had such a good time getting to know each other! We definitely need to do this more often!

Getting to sleep was impossible! There were so many whisper and giggle buddies around!

The next day we spent at this wonderful place called Beebee's Roaring River Waterslide. But to us it will always be the Redneck Waterslide. Let's call a spade a spade.

Mathew and Kylie Magnusson

Megan and Laney

Dad and Everly

Me and Everly!

Tommy Lowden, Mark and John....choo choo!

Having our redneck picnic on the sidlines as the kids wander in and out of the slide.

And then we headed to Short Stop! It's an amazing and wondrous gem in a backwoods gas station. The sell massive ice cream cones with names like "Peewee" and "Baby" that would make your eyes pop.

I'm pretty sure I requested a mini-baby-peewee for Everly.

Not for Mark. I think he opted for the "Kids" size.

A Garage Gym is born

Mark has a dream.

It started with a major clean-out of the garage. And some space to install a pull-up bar. Looks good!

What's a gym without a couple barbells? Oh...and then a couple 2x4's and a youtube tutorial to build a rack.

Now we'll need a few (just a few, mind you!) rubber mats to lift on, so we can safely drop the barbell from overhead.

How about some rings? Ring rows are always a good idea!

Time for the boys to come play.

Mark always finds a way to make things real.

Pioneer Day 2017

It's safe to say that 99.9999 percent of the people that live here have no idea it's Pioneer Day.

But we know.

And we're bored.

And Mari did all the work and invited us to come over and do pioneer crafts to celebrate!

We churned our own butter and hammered tin...we (ironically) used the internet to learn how to make rag dolls.

We did as the pioneers do and braid with the assistance of our toes.

And Mari slaved away in the kitchen trying to pull taffy. See? Just like pioneer times for real! Although, I bet back then, they would've eaten that failed batch anyway. Taffy, shmaffy....sugar bridges our past and our future!

Date Night

Our mission: Shop for clothes for your spouse at the thrift store. The must fit (mostly) and they must be worn without shame or explanation to the bowling ally.

Did we achieve Miami Vice? Eighties Country Club elite?

Or Nursing Home staff?

Whichever it was....we rocked it.

Everly Oral Surgery

We worked hard to get to today.

Everly's MCADD comes with some pretty cruddy side effects. One of them is that she has to eat frequently through the night, so her teeth are much more prone to cavities. 

This last check up she had ELEVEN

And three of them really needed root canals and silver caps. We started to do the work little by little at the dentist office, but she was crying in pain and I can honestly say that I will NEVER sit through that again. 

Never. 

It took me six hours for my ears to stop ringing, I was so upset. 

So we decided that we needed to get the work done all at once and put her under. 

Then we found out that the anesthesiologist would be using Propofol to sedate her. She can't have that because it is lipid based. So when we tried to discuss the approved alternatives, she decided that she wouldn't do it. That left us to try to have Dr. Prater do the surgery in a hospital setting.

He was NOT HAPPY.

The surgery got delayed several times because of missing paperwork or miscommunication on the hospital's side. We did everything we could to meet the requirements...even running into a walk-in clinic for a same day physical.

By the time she was approved, we were a wreck and Dr. Prater vowed he'd never work in a hospital again. He made sure to repeat that to me several times. 

But, that's just tough. This girl needs her teeth fixed and we needed to get in there, no matter how irritated we all are.

Watching them wheel her away was awful. I wanted to go with her so bad. It was unimaginable to me that she would be in a room with strangers and about to be sedated.

The surgery lasted for 3 hours.

3 eternal hours.

And then the finally brought her to me and I got to hold her in my arms and feel her even breathing.

And now she has silver teeth and she likes that just fine!

As for Dr. Prater, he has since reminded me half a dozen times how big a hassle that was and how he'll never ever do that for a patient again. I nod and smile and think to myself, "Well, sir. Perhaps she will not be your patient for much longer. And she'll take her 5 siblings with her!"

Mathew and Jim Gaffigan

We're feeling pretty proud of ourselves! We are trying really hard to find activities we can enjoy with our growing kids. 

Ethan loves John Mayer, Megan loves coldplay, and Mather loves....

Jim Gaffigan!

We love him too! And armed with three personal fans of various sizes...we were ready to brave the July heat. This is the first comedy act we've ever been to, so we were excited!

Never gets old

I don't think I'll ever stop taking pictures of the garden and the exciting things that come out of it!

It's so beautiful to me!

And now I'm learning to dehydrate my extra produce...so I'm not wasting as much.

Exciting!

Missed opportunity

I saw this today in the thrift store.

And I didn't buy it.

I can't for the life of me understand why.

Give me another chance, Universe. I won't let you down.

A Royal scorcher

I'm not gonna lie. 

It is WAY too hot to be at a baseball game. 

But we lived. And now we will check it of the list of all lists.
The list determines our summer destiny.

Thank heavens for bottled water.

Play #3: Winnie the Pooh

Summer is winding up. 

This is the last play the kids will do and they did such a great job!

Laney designed the program cover!

She was also Kanga in the play.

Megan did set design for every one of these plays...and this one was her "pièce de résistance"!

Aidan was cast as Eeyore. We all felt he was perfect for the role!

A packed house!

Laney and Leah.. Kanga and Roo!

I will always love these memories!