A Jolly Holly Visit!

Jillian's favorite park toy was the bouncy horse.

Can you tell they're related?
Madalynn made a point to show of her monkey bar skills...
...and, not to be outdone, Justis showed of his monkey bar skills, too!
Laid-back Dawson just happily hanging out




Going to parks, riding in trucks, mall shopping, eating cheesecake and mini golf is all more fun with Aunt Holly!

Travis's sister, Holly, followed us back to Louisiana in her truck to visit us during her spring break. As always, we all had a blast with her here.

Our house was MUCH LESS than guest-presentable, if you know what I mean. Clean sheets, bathrooms, vacuumed floors, clean kitchen (including sink and range), plenty of food and any special things our guests like are all things I enjoy doing for family and friends when they visit. I had been in Kansas for 1 1/2 weeks with the kids and Travis left the house picked up when he left to meet us.

Holly arrived home in Ponchatoula with us right about bedtime. Holly slept on unwashed sheets, used the bathroom that we have one child potty-training in and which two little boys who ARE potty trained also use, and woke up to a pretty-much empty pantry the next morning. She got to be a part of how SLOWLY it takes me (thus the rest of the bunch) to reacclimate to being home and catching up from a long trip! Holly graciously HELPED me get it together by helping the kids and even made us a VERY GOOD meal. Bless you and thank you, Holly!

We did some fun out-of-the-ordinary things while she was here, but I want to focus this blog on the day-to-day things she enjoyed (endured?) with us.

Let's see. She got to witness us loudly and frantically leave for home school co-op at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and return quiet, tired and worn out a little after 5:00 that evening. She also got to see how hard her brother works. Travis, although he desires and enjoys participating in sibling chats, fell asleep on the couch pretty much every night she was here. She saw me in my least glorious state...when I wake up in the morning. Giving baths, potty-training a toddler, keeping peace between siblings and family meals are "ordinary" things that become extraordinary pretty fast when there's an audience. My kids inherited drama, confidence and competitiveness from Travis and I and so home is the kids' stage when a guest comes. Ordinary arguments become all-out brawls, sympathy cries become sobs, trying to one-up sister or brother becomes teasing (then crying) when they're hamming it up. Thank goodness Holly comes from the same stock and can see through the production! Hehe.

Posted are pictures of the kids at the park. Holly took them in her truck to get drinks at Sonic and then to the park while I went to a doctor's appointment. I met them there after my appointment and they were all vying for Holly's attention.

Oh, and the subject of Aunt Holly's truck. "Aunt Holly's Truck" is the standard by which all other trucks are measured. "Aunt Holly's truck goes faster than that truck," (pointing to a random truck on the highway), "Aunt Holly's truck is taller than that truck," and, when Travis got his new truck, "This is almost as big as Aunt Holly's truck." Needless to say, I rode home in the van from the park solo while all the kids took Holly's ride.

More on Holly's visit next blog!

Kansas: Wichita Stop

Travis sitting in the back of the van watching a DVD with the kids.
Dawson liked watching his eyelids more than the DVD.
Madalynn is happy watching DVDs and riding as long as she needs to.
Jillian has issues keeping her top harness strapped!
Justis got to sit up front beside me for a while so Travis and Dawson could stretch out.
Princess Morgan
Madalynn holding Mr. Carson




I'm turning my writing back to our trip to Kansas. I've got so much to blog about right now and not enough time...but I'll get to it all eventually.

The 14th of March we drove on from the wedding we attended in Garden City to Wichita for a short visit and an overnight stay on our way back to Louisiana.

We went directly to our friends' Doug and Bridget's house when we got to Wichita to wish Miss Morgan (their daughter) a happy 3rd birthday and to see their several-week-old new little boy, Carson. Doug is one of Travis's best friends from childhood and Bridget and I both have a love of SW Kansas (she grew up in Liberal) and the crazy desire to let our crazy husbands do crazy husband things, so our conversations are always wonderful and CRAZY! :) Let me just say Doug is just as ornery as Travis and when they get together it's ornery x2. I also enjoyed reading the three little pigs to birthday-girl, Morgan and getting my "baby fix" by holding baby Carson.

Travis's mom and dad blessed Travis, the kids and I to a family meal/get together when we got to their house Saturday night. We got to see Grandma Phyllis Leach, Travis's sisters and bro-in-law, Seth. We had a great visit with all of them.

Travis got up VERY early Sunday morning and drove to Hutchinson to meet his good friend Tracy for breakfast. Tracy was Travis's first boss at ADM that trained him and has mentored him during his entire career with ADM. Work aside, however, Travis and Tracy will forever be friends because Tracy is a great, fun guy and they get along so well. Travis actually helped Tracy finish loading the a shuttle train (110-car train) with grain, just like old times. They then went to Ihop and to Tracy's house where Tracy proved to be a very spry 40 something when he beat Travis at the Wii fitness game! Did I mention Tracy was a two-time golden glove boxer?

The kids and I got up and went to Asbury church with Holly. We will always consider Asbury our "home" church, because Travis grew up attending there, we were married there, and most of the pastors there are like family. I got to hear our friend Ryan preach and I got to have a short chat with his wife and my friend, Brie.

Travis met us all after church at Red Beans Bayou Grill in Wichita. Red Beans is still my fave Wichita restaurant, even though I now live in the Bayou!

We packed up and left Wichita late afternoon. Our visit with Travis's family was way too short, so hopefully Travis will have enough vacation time for us to make and intentional Wichita trip soon.

Easy Easter

We went to our church's Easter service Saturday night, so our Sunday Easter celebration was laid-back and certainly like no other Easter we've ever had!

Our church's Saturday night Easter drama was AWESOME and very moving. We all went to Sunday school during the 5:00 service. Travis and I are small group leaders for Maddie and Justis's 1st-3rd grade class, and Jillian and Daws went to their classes. Travis, me, Madalynn, Justis and Dawson went to the 6:45 church service. The production told the events of the Easter story from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day. The adults as well as the kids left with a crystal-clear portrait of the reason Jesus died for us. (To those of you wondering why in the world our church has two services Saturday night, it's because over 4,000 people attend church each weekend over 5 services. Two are Saturday night services and there are three Sunday morning services.)

We slept in on Easter Day and dyed our eggs in the afternoon. The Easter Bunny was almost late this year, but made it by Easter day. (Whew!) Daddy Easter Bunny bought candy Saturday and Mommy Easter Bunny went to Walgreens to get the plastic eggs Easter day. Matter-of-fact-Madalynn made it clear to her siblings a long time ago that the Easter Bunny is Mom and Dad. Travis and I have no reason to sneak around, therefore, and are at liberty to go to bed whenever we want to Easter Eve! ;)

We dyed camouflage eggs this year. Fun, but messy! Oil mixed in with the egg coloring produced the splotchy camo effect. The dyed eggs were just for traditional fun and decoration, though, because the kids wanted to hunt for the candy-filled eggs! Daddy Easter Bunny hid the eggs and also put money in the form of one-dollar bills into four of the eggs (and had to make sure each of the kids got one of the dollars).

We started with the littlest, giving Jillian a head start on finding the eggs. Then we let Dawson out, then Justis and finally Madalynn. THEN the mad rush to get the eggs was on. We should have let Justis out to find the eggs last, instead of Madalynn, because he was all over those eggs like stink on a skunk! Dawson and Jillian kept trying to stop and open their eggs to eat the candy, but we had to remind them they needed to hurry so they could get some eggs before Madalynn and Justis got them all. I would say Travis and I had an equally-fun time participating in the festivities.

Travis hid 51 eggs and we only counted 50 when we thought we were done. So, clawing and tripping over one-another, they all scrambled back out into the grass to find the coveted 51st egg. Lo and behold, Justis was the "winner." He found that egg in less than a minute. He's always a man on a mission. Thankfully they were all good sports and didn't compare how many eggs they each got. They just enjoyed the fun finding them and eating what was in them.

My favorite part of this Easter was remembering what my Savior did for me without having to worry about fancy clothes, big meals, or formal gatherings. I like traditional Easters too, don't get me wrong. This year, though, we wore casual clothes Easter service, focused on the message, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of a formal meal for Easter lunch and dyed our Easter eggs the day of Easter. Stripping off all of the formalities, commercialism and traditions and getting down to the true meaning of Easter was powerful (and enjoyable) for all of us.

Exploring America's Wrap-Up Presentation

I was SO BLESSED to be able to teach 18 1st-3rd graders some American History this semester.

Our home school organization, Northshore Home Educator's Association, has a home school "cooperative" each semester. Classes are held Tuesday afternoons from noon-4 p.m. The kids can go to one, two, three or all four hours of the afternoon.

The class I taught was called "Exploring America." We studied The Civil War and The Great Depression through (good and/or classic) children's literature. I had thirteen boys and five girls in my first-hour class, including Madalynn and Justis.

Planning for the class was fun, educational AND time-consuming for me. I called on my dad (a retired history teacher) MANY times during the semester to fact-check and "refresh" my memory.

One thing I will NEVER again take for granted is a child's capacity to learn! The material my 1st-3rd graders learned and retained about The Civil War and The Great Depression was impressive. We had laughter and tears reading books and learning about America's past.

My good friend Erin kindly recorded my class's final presentation. She did such a good job recording I mixed a little video to share with my students, their parents, and my friends and family. Enjoy!

To Maddie and Justis's family and friends who regularly read the blog. Justis overcame his anxiety over the inherited stutter he has when he gets nervous and BRAVELY did his little part. Miss Drama Queen Madalynn also had no problems at all (as usual) getting up and presenting!

A Good Friday Campout

(Note: I still have to finish up blogging about Kansas and Holly's visit, but since it is timely, I wanted to blog about Easter weekend activities. Then I'll get back to chronological order)

Food cooked over a campfire, a good game of "washers," setting marshmallows on fire just because it's fun and family togetherness make good memories. Good Friday we went tent camping and it was GOOD!

We all love to tent camp. Yes, even me! I never thought I'd say that. I'm sure my parents are laughing as they read this, thinking about me out in the elements with the bugs, nature, noises and DIRT. My feet get filthy from slipping in and out of my crocs, bugs bite me, I get dirt under my fingernails, I don't brush my hair for almost two days, makeup is totally useless, and I smell like campfire smoke and I LOVE it because it means sweet time with my family.

The "elements" are what have prevented us from camping sooner this spring. We prayed, trusted God and took the weather man at his word that it was only going to rain a little if any where we were planning on camping, piled all of our stuff in the back of the truck and drove. We got to Percy Quin around 2:00 Friday afternoon.

Travis immediately got busy with the chainsaw, cutting dead wood into pieces for our fire while I got the food, sleeping bags, etc. sorted. The kids helped Travis carry the wood out of the woods. Watching them each come down the hill lugging logs bigger than them was so cute and funny. Each one of them PROUDLY showed me how strong they were and how big the logs were they carried.

The swimming area in the lake was a mess because of an apparent flood sometime since we visited last, so the kids enjoyed a play time on the playground before supper. We played "washers" (more later on this game) while we were waiting on the fire to get hot enough to cook supper.

We cook over a real fire, and figuring out the best way to do that has been challenging, to say the least. It's easy to "smoke" foods on a campfire...but to actually cook the food without burning it is a skill we've had to learn. We're finally getting the hang of it. Our sausages were cooked PERFECTLY over our "just right" fire this time. The bacon and eggs we cooked in the skillet over the fire in the morning also cooked well and were just right.

S'mores are a MUST at every camp out, so we ate some after supper and another game of washers. I love setting my marshmallows on fire, blowing the fire out, and then eating them. Yum. Monkey see, monkey do. The kids saw me torch my marshmallows and then started setting their marshmallows on fire, too. The taste of scorched marshmallows wasn't their thing, apparently, because I was offered about four of them with bite marks!

My favorite part of camping is when the kids get in their two little tents to go to bed and Travis and I talk in the dark. The two girls sleep in one tent and the two boys in the another. Travis and I get the big tent with the air mattress. Being the parent has perks!

We listen to the kids giggle and talk in the dark and finally fall asleep. The two of us talk some more and listen to the bugs chirp. We get in our tent after the kids are asleep and the top is mesh. We can look up through the towering trees at the stars and drift off. So beautiful. I can't wait to go again!

Chevy? Ford? Dodge?

Giving a man a bunch of money and telling him to buy either a Chevy, Ford or Dodge is much like lining up a three beautiful women, a blonde, brunette and red head and telling him to pick one.

Oh, the choices!

Travis's boss gave him a nice vehicle budget and LOTS and LOTS of choices for his newest company vehicle. SUV's, cars, crossovers, TRUCKS.

Don't get me wrong. We felt blessed with the 2007 Chevy Impala he quickly put 75,000 miles on. Travis's boss is very perceptive, though, and apparently saw him drooling over some of the company trucks on the road.

"Black Beauty" (the Impala) went to a good home to a new employee in another state about a month ago. Travis drove a little "stand-in" while he (impatiently) waited for the his custom-ordered "lady" to come in.

He would have liked to have ordered a "loaded" version of ANY brand of truck. He proved his loyalty to the family over his wild man desires and opted for a more modest quad-cab version so the whole family could fit comfortably in the new rig! ;) He also took my color recommendation, although I encouraged him to choose what he liked. Now THAT'S a dedicated husband!

She rolled up in the drive Friday, and the kids ran out to see the new girl like they were going to greet grandma and grandpa! We HAD to go for a ride first thing. She needed gas, so we took the three-mile trip to town to get some. Travis revved her a couple of times, but then remembered he had to gently break her in.

Dawson sat in the middle in the front between Travis and I. All-cowboy, I think he was more proud than Travis to be in the new truck. Travis tuned in the Serius satellite station to old country and rolled down the windows. All of the kids, especially Dawson, were in Redneck heaven.

I snuck the keys and took the kids for an errand run one evening when Travis was napping. I got a phone call in the checkout line at Wal Mart and the first thing he asked is if I had wrecked his truck yet! You gotta love that he has confidence in his wife's driving abilities. Never mind that comment. Those of you whom saw my handiwork at our 2nd Hugoton house know that Travis's question was completely valid. I got his new baby back into the driveway in one piece and the kids even put in a good word for me and told him how well I did driving.

So, here she is. Travis's new 2009, 1/2-ton Dodge Ram. She doesn't have a name yet, but I'm sure she'll have one, soon. Travis truly enjoys his new truck and thanks God every time he drives it. I have to say Travis nor I have never felt entitiled to having a company vehicle and feel truly blessed by God and his company to be provided with one!

*A note to all you guys reading this blog and wondering when Travis became a Dodge man. Travis used to be loyal to Ford and owned several OLD Ford Broncos. He says they don't make them like they used too. He didn't choose Chevy because he wouldn't have been able to get as many perks. Trust me, he made that budget go as far as he could!

Kansas: The Wedding

Dan (the groom), Travis and Russell
Travis and Russell
Russell and Sharon


March 14 we attended the beautifully simple wedding of our good friend Dan and his new wife Mary Beth! Being there for our good friend's wedding alone was worth the drive to KS, but seeing some other college friends there was a special bonus.

Travis and Dan know one another from both being in the Ag program at K-State. He was also part of The Navigators, the Christian campus group we were part of at K-State. Dan grew up in Garden City, got his K-State degree and is now running the family's large farm, where he and Mary Beth now live, and Mary Beth is a teacher. We are so excited for them!

Russell and his wife, Sharon, as well as Matt and his daughter Tiana are also friends from K-State that were at the wedding too! The conversation was about families and agriculture. Matt works for a big ag company. Sarah, his wife, is a friend I enjoy spending time with, as she is also a stay-at-home mom to their three kids. She, unfortunately, was sick and couldn't make the wedding. Russell and Sharon are successful and creative entrepreneurs. Currently, they make and sell the BEST beef jerky ever. Russel and Sharon are also going to start raising honey bees!

Travis and I LOVE catching up with old friends. We could've stayed and talked for hours, but Dan and Mary Beth wanted to get to the honeymoon! Hehe.

Kansas: The Dairy Field Trip

We were blessed to go on a mini (as in kid-oriented) field trip to the Santa Fe Trail Dairy, LLC, located twelve miles from my hometown of Ulysses, Kansas. The temperature was a "balmy" (hehe) 26 degrees when we visited.

Jillian was being a grouch and we were not sure she would be able to go in with us. The tour guide told us on the phone that the "girls" (the cows) don't produce as much milk if they are spooked.

Santa Fe Dairy is a 6,000 cow-operation! The milking barn milks 120 cows at once (60per side.

The "ladies" are so used to their milkings, they know just what to do. They file in line into the milking barn, where workers clean their teats and attach the milking machine to the them. Josh Rottinghaus (pictured) is the dairy manager and '04 and '06graduate of Kansas State University (my and Travis's alma matter!). Sensors "know" when the cow has given all the milk she can and automatically release from the cows udder. Each cow produces up to 200 pounds of milk per day. The one we were watching had already given 25 lbs. of milk during a single milking!

The milk comes out of the cow, through the milking machine and to the basement where a series of pipes pump it directly into these big, silver tanks for cooling.The milk in the big, silver tanks is cooled to 38 degrees before it is pumped into the semi tanker. The walls of the semi tanker are very thick to keep the milk cold during transport.

The cows must continue being pregnant and have babies to continue producing milk. About one calf per hour is born at this dairy! The calves are immediately taken from their mothers and placed in the nearby calf nursery. The calves and mothers are monitored by workers. An on-site animal hospital keeps the dairy's cows in good health.

A bull (male) calf is worth a whopping $10. They will not grow up to produce milk! A heifer (female) calf is worth $500. She will be able to produce milk when she grows up! The dairy cows continue to give birth and produce milk for the dairy for about five years. They are then sent directly to slaughter and, according to our guide, probably end up in a fast-food burger somewhere.

The dairy ships out 8-9 semi tankers of milk per day! Most of the tankers of milk area shipped to the Hutchinson, KS, area and used to make cheese. Some is shipped around the tri-state area and a few tankers take the milk "way down" to the southern states.

The calf pictured in the red wheelbarrow was just-born and was loaded up and being rolled to the nursery as we walked out the nursery door. Warming bulbs in the nursery kept the calves warm until they could be loaded into a trailor and taken to be fed. Many of the calves we saw in the nursery were still wet from birth.

The cows "live" in the "open air" barns while they are not being milked. Their job is to stay healthy and eat much. Each side of the cow barns is cleaned while the cows are away being milked. They cows return to a nice, clean barn when they return from milking.