Grass

Ah, the difference a few days makes... I was trying to explain to my mom how the prairie was trying to take over our yard and decided that these pictures might make the point even better. I took the one on the left soon after we moved in, and the one on the right this morning. The green "boxes" are the corner of our property. You can see them clearly on the left...I can't even see them looking out my window now. The neat shed is not far from us, but almost completely obscured now.

This one shows what is left of the green box way out there. I took this yesterday--in the rain.(Our neighbors just put that fence up...it changes the view a bit too.)

I think the prairie is mad we are trying to kick it out of our yard. Each day we look out and find more tall grass creeping from that corner. I have to pick the grass and weeds out from around my garden plants in a pathetic attempt to keep the prairie out. Next year we will do it up right with a border around it and everything.

Visitor

For a couple days after the kids were in bed we had time to watch a movie downstairs. We heard this odd thumping ... after some investigation, we discovered a visitor down our window well.

Our Yard

We planted strawberries for Kade's birthday. They are doing really well. We've picked nearly a dozen so far.
My squash has blossoms! Kade noticed yesterday and asked me what those flowers in my garden were. I told him about the marigolds...but discovered these flowers were different. :)

Planes

Who knew balsa wood planes would be this much fun?

Digging

We designated a corner of our yard as the digging area. Kade had a lot of fun there the other day while I was working in the garden.

Riley

Out back we have this amazing shed across the field. I can't wait to dress the kids up and get some great shots out there. :) While Kade and Cory played with a kite, Riley and I went for a photo shoot.

Prairie Plants

Wondered about this plant when we first got here. Got to talking with my neighbor this afternoot--after speaking to the Animal Control Agent--and learned this stuff grows wild out here. Can you tell what it is?

Green

Our grass has been busily multiplying lately. Here are some more pictures from our back porch. The green is a little off because there are clouds and it is currently raining. So much for sunny "Sun"days. :)

Scout Activity

Kade and Riley both got to go to a neighbor's ranch this Saturday as part of a Scout service project. They both had a great time and came home filthy. Here are my valiant efforts to document. My subjects weren't the most cooperative... :)

updates

As many of you know, a lot has been going on around here. While I don't have pictures for all our fun events, I'll attempt to make my list as entertaining as possible.

Tuesday, 28 April: Melissa becomes an official Wildcat...orientation and early enrollment at Kansas State University. YAY!! I am really excited about returning to school.

Friday, 01 May: Kade attends Ward campout with new friends. Gets to fish and catches the biggest Wall Eye they've seen. :)

Monday, 04 May: Melissa gets up early and heads to Colorado to collect Cory. A super nice lady in our ward kept both kids for a couple days while we drove all over. Cory had so much stuff, the kids wouldn't have fit in there anyway.

Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo: After a long morning waiting for helicopters to take off, we finally get to return the rental car and head home around 1300 CDT. We get back in town late and pick up the kids just before 2100. They are tired and cranky, but excited to see Dad. Kade and Riley get to meet George--Cory's dog.

Wednesday, 06 May: We get TV back in our home. The tech finally shows up around 1100 CDT and takes nearly 2 hours to get things hooked up for us. I never knew it was so difficult to connect a satellite... Just as our afternoon calms down, Cory is called away on business to Texas. Scheduled a last minute flight and got things ready to go.

Thursday, 07 May: Alarm at 0300 CDT...road trip to Wichita... For some reason road construction in Kansas is done on the down low...so, when we came to our turn off--according to our nice GPS lady--there were barricades in our way. Turns out the whole road is closed. Some cranky lady at the only gas station around told us we'd have to go over to the toll road... After hiking around the back country of Kansas to get Cory to the airport early, we discover that the airport--the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport--is smaller than Tucson and Colorado Springs. We made it with plenty of time to spare. I took a different route home, and managed to get the kids to school on time.

What a week, eh? Hopefully I'll get some cool pics ready for posting soon. :)