Family Comes to Kansas

March brought Shannon's parents, sister, and niece to Kansas for about a week.

It rained several days and was a bit muddy and cold until the end of their stay, when it cleared off. We went thrift store shopping one day where Caroline snatched up a karaoke machine. The girls discovered the microphone will plug into the keyboard too, joy! They tried it in all the bedrooms, then moved to the porch which made a great stage with seating and all.

Grandma fixed a nice dinner for us one evening that the girls wanted to serve like a restaurant with menus and waitresses (decked in aprons and clip-on earrings of course!)

There was opportunity for needle-punching tutoring and sewing lessons...and pantyhose overnight curls with the fresh supply brought from Grandma's house.

While the men found a few projects to work on. They finished hanging sheetrock on the newly-opened house walls and tore out the rest of the floor coverings.

We had in a few friends of Mom & Dad's one evening for supper and fellowship. Another night Aunt Britney treated us all to a first-time supper at the local sushi and steakhouse, then they were gone again!

Less than a week later, my parents, brother, and two sons arrived in Kansas.

The littles spent hours outside riding the small four-wheeler, beep, beep! Mom, Dad, & Shannon walked through a handful of houses in Pratt. Another day we all went near Hutchinson to check out a builder that could move a new house onto a corner of our property. We spent a few hours at Dillons Nature Center walking the trails, watching the geese, finding fossils in rocks, and playing in the stream.

Kris mudded the drywall for us so the walls and ceiling are ready to paint!
Our scrap paper supply was diminished by the making of paper boats of all sizes and colors.

And that is just a little snapshot of what happened in our life to make a month pass by quickly!

Outdoor Improvements

We let our pond drain over the winter; no pumping water for hours upon hours every day to keep it full. In March, hubs shook out more huge sacks of bentonite clay onto the edges to help seal it better.
While the water level was low, he also constructed a dock, planting metal posts in the dry part of the pond bottom. The pond well became active again and day by day the water level rose to the bottom of the overflow tunnel pipe.

Finally, a craigslist diving board was attached, and the swimming this summer has been an almost daily hit!

Also in March, hubs dug a trench through the barren garden to bring electricity to the lamp post light. This was a much deferred job, due to the nature of the end result (purely atmosphere), so he deserves grandiose applause for his selfless efforts.

March also brought the prevailing spring winds of the Kansas plains, tormenting me as I hung multiple loads of laundry outside. I suddenly came to an understanding of why some people think Kansas weather is awful and certainly would never live here. Upon relating this (quite dogmatically) to hubs, he kindly began to build a windbreak fence to shelter my legs from pelting sand and to allow the garden reprieve from blustery gusts. 

Phew! Sometimes drastic measures get the quickest results!

Incidentally, my big brother and dad finished up the fence in short order and, as a bonus, I now have a new, closer-to-the-washing machine, clothesline!

Another Girl's Bedroom

We had a funny little schoolroom tucked in a corner. There was a funny little closet that held our books and games. The closet had round shelves all the way to the ceiling and turned like a giant "lazy susan". It sure was fun to spin, but sure not fun to pick up the items that slung off the shelves in the process.

This picture shows the room without that handy little closet (notice the unpainted wall waaay back?) after it was torn out, prepping for a small remodel project.

The studs in the this exposed wall were originally an outside house wall. Shannon enclosed a small inverted triangle of wasted outside space and knocked out the existing wall (very confusing ,I know! Just pop over sometime and we'll tell you all about it) to add a wee bit of footage to our minimum housing.

Here is that extra space, perfect for a bed and desk and adolescent privacy.

We wrapped up the painting and carpet while Annie was away for 2 weeks to surprise her on her homecoming. The closet was my favorite part to set up and organize.

Here she is peeking at the surprise!

I think she likes it!

After A decided on an exact teal color, we painted an accent wall to brighten the room.

Curtain material from Walmart and furniture from Ikea...viola! Another girl bedroom.
Because 4 girls in twin bunk beds in one room gets tight when the ladies grow up.

Random Photos in January

Some photos just don't need any description...

And some need a little more explaining...

Ohio cousins come to visit! The game of "occupation" occupied the morning.

 A walk-through of the Pratt Historical Museum filled the afternoon.

Coloring books and baths were the evening routine.

Our resident painter finished white-washing the garage ceiling and walls. 

He also added color to dear daughter's room, on a turquoise accent wall.

Christmas coupon redeemed! Ice cream sundae party night was a tasty event.

 Flowers from friends made a refreshingly-lovely table centerpiece for most of the month, reminding us of God's love through relationships: family, spouses, and new friends. Marriage. It is well worth investing time to learn how to improve, and a blessing to share it with others!