Taking the Scenic Route

These are the pieces they made with Grandma at Steve & Joy’s shop. They had to be fired before we could enjoy them at home.

Zora’s um, creation…butterfly maybe?

Zane’s Maze

Zane’s Mushroom (from Super Mario)

We had a spectacular holiday.  Ironically, this was not a holiday we really celebrated much when I was growing, up, but it was a big deal to my husband.  His dad used to be the dad that bought insane quantities of fireworks and would put on a show for the entire neighborhood.  Zach’s enthusiasm has infected my family and we now gather each year that we can out at the farm and enjoy the day. 

My maternal Grandma was there for the fun, although she stayed inside (doesn’t handle heat well).  We decided to eat inside, but had a great BBQ meal.  Outside, the guys lit a few daytime fireworks, went exploring, and took very slow rides on the 4-wheeler.  I mostly hung out with Grandma until she was too tired to socialize and headed home, but the kids had a ball outside.

When the sun began to set, we headed out to go to the Inman Fireworks in the City Pasture. (yeah, you know it is a small town when the city has a pasture.  lol).  We turned the corner in the pasture only to discover it empty (well, except for the other cars that came expecting to see fireworks and were clustered at the enterances trying to decide what to do too.)  After a call to my Dad’s sister, we found out the location of the fireworks in McPherson, and headed there. 

We ended up watching the fireworks from the parking lot of the church my Grandparents (and multiple other relatives) attended through my childhood.  The show was very good, better than the Inman show would have been, with the bonus of not doging other people’s fireworks.  It also was calm and non-chaotic, unlike the Wichita fireworks.  A very enjoyable end to the day.

Riding with Grandpa

 We had to go to Mac today to pick up Zach after work because he had to drop off the company car today.  After we picked him up, we went to Joy’s store (she wasn’t there, still recovering) and saw my mom and Steve.  Mom/Grandma helped the kids paint some pottery (will be fired later), then we grabbed a bucket of chicken and went out to the park for a picnic.

THEY ARRESTED THE SUB-HUMAN THAT MURDERED MOM’S NEIGHBOR!!!!

I got a call yesterday from my co-worker who had heard that they had arrested the sub-human who murdered mom’s neighbor. He is also charged with several sex and other crimes against elderly women in another town. Mom was so relieved, as am I. He lived in the town that our bead shop is located. He had told his 10-12 yr old that he had a ‘girlfriend’ in the other town, and that’s where he was going. He’s about 45 yrs old. I’m sure there are more details out there, I just haven’t heard them.  

And….DDIL’s meds didn’t help, they caused problems. So the KC cardio gal is going to do an ‘oblation’ (Sp?) next Monday. If I understand right, they will go up both groins with a scope, into the heart. They will find the nerve that is sending the bad signals and ‘kill’ it. The cardio does about 2 of these a day, so she knows what she is doing. DDIL’s added obstacles include the pace maker wires and her coumadin/blood thinner. They will keep her in the hospital for several days post-op.

For those wondering “what’s a dedication?”, Mennonites only do Believer’s (Adult) Baptism.  So, instead of doing child baptisms, we do child dedications.  It is  really similar to baptism, except no water.  Basically, there is a long extended version of “Will you raise this child to be a Christian?” and we say “We will”.  In every church I have been to in the past, the congregation also has a litany where they promise to support the parents and the child as they grow in the church, but this church, apparently, doesn’t do that.  I don’t know if that is a Brethren thing, or just a “by church” thing, but I assume it is an individual church thing.  I was a little surprised because I was always under the impression that the church family was as much a part of the dedication as the individual family.  The rest of the dedication was beautiful though.

So today was Zora’s day.  (some of the pictures aren’t great because there wasn’t quite enough light and it wasn’t appropriate to use a flash)

On the way to Sunday School

Singing “Deep and Wide” in Sunday School.  (they had the Moms there for a special Mother’s Day thing)

The Dedication

After the Worship Service we went out to eat with my parents.  They came up to see the dedication (and she took the pictures for us) and spend lunch with us, and they go to my brother’s house for supper tonight.  It was a nice lunch.  Good food, great conversation, and the kids did a MUCH better job of waiting with Grandma and Grandpa there.  A nice Mother’s Day for me. (although I do need to invest in some hair clips…I had hair clip failure today and felt a little like Cousin It today.  The sad part was when I got into my car after lunch and some of my hair got caught in the door.  I leaned back to see several full length hairs hanging from the door jam onto my lap with the roots on the end.  owie)

Church

Zane was totally on his own today (meaning, I dropped him off at the class with his buddy/para, and didn’t return until the end of class) and he did really well.  Zora also enjoyed her Sunday School and came out of the room with evidence of studying Jonah and the Whale. 

With Zane independent at Sunday School, we went to the Worship Service that takes place during the Sunday School time period.  Although the service itself was a little more traditional, I think we have come to the conclusion that nothing is going to make the sermon any better.  He wasn’t as offensive this time around, but it still isn’t really working for me.  I did give him the Biblical Parenting book after the service today and told him I would love to hear his opinion on it and discuss it with him.  I hope he takes me up on it.  If it doesn’t start changing, we are going to see if the timing works out to go to the Children’s church there, and then go to another church for the adult Worship Service, especially now that we know we can get Zane to mostly sit during a service.  (and I know that there is a nursery available for at least two of the three possible churches we might go to for Zora, and I suspect there is one at the third).  We are now closer to the regular Mennonite church, but I will have to check times.  Sort of weird to talk about going to two churches, but hey, unconventional solutions are what makes life interesting.

After Church

We stopped by a restaurant for lunch and everybody got to eat except me.  They brought me my food, but unlike the other times I have ordered it, this time they put chives on the dish and mixed them in.  It was obvious they were added post cooking, so it was doubly annoying.  It was too busy to send back and Zora was losing her cool at the table so we couldn’t wait for a redo, so I just didn’t get to eat.  That sort of stunk.

We had plans of meeting Carrie, Zane’s first ST, at the Zoo.  She and her husband were going to take Zane around the Zoo while we either went there with Zora or went shopping.  We drove up to the zoo to meet them and it was more packed than I thought possible.  There weren’t any parking spaces and the line was all the way out into the parking lot.  It had to be an hour wait just to go through the doors, and more cars were circling the parking lot.  We decided that we should go to Sports World instead.  We assumed Zane would like the go carts and golf, but apparently when he saw the video arcade, he made a bee line.  They had a ball with him.  Zach, Zora and I headed to a kid’s consignment store and browsed for a long time.  I found one dress (she is wearing in the picture), a book, a game for Zane, and a building set for Zora all for under $20.  By the time we returned to Sports World, they were having a drink and ready to head to the counter to redeem the 200+ tickets they had gatherered.  Zane didn’t want to go home.  (big surprise).

An evening with Grandma and Grandpa

Once we got home, we called my folks because they were planning on being in town tonight.  They were just checking out at Sam’s Club and headed over right away.  In the course of the evening Dad fixed our BBQ grill & our living room light (a bulb had exploded and was smoking and we didn’t know how to get it out so we hadn’t used the light for a week), we grilled some burgers, watched a program on tv that was highlighting antique farm implements, and read books and played with the kids.  A lot of fun, but I am so tired now I can hardly think.  I think I will just post a picture and go crawl in bed.

As we were driving out to the farm we realized that we haven’t been there in almost a year because of the car.  Zane was totally excited when we got there.  He remembered it well.  Zora, on the other hand, seemed a bit amazed that Grandma and Grandpa were there.  I don’t think she realized that they “lived” anyplace, she just knew that they came to our house.  lol.  Both really enjoyed the squishy ground and exploring the farm. 

Dad and my brother Steve gave the new vehicle a good check, changed the oil, and made some minor repairs.

Zora was totally captivated by the cats and chased them around in glee.

She was suprised and happy to see Grandma come home from work.

And finally, the short video of Zora trying to coax the cat out of the house. 

It was a great day.  We are excited that we have the ability to go out there more often now.

My parents came to town and took us out to eat for my birthday.  The pictures we took were phenomoninally bad, to the point Zach and I didn’t even erase them because, as a group, are so bad they are funny.   Here are a few that aren’t just horrifying.

The evening was really wonderful though.  Good food, happy family, what more can a person ask for?  What a great way to bring in another year.

We are officially a one car family now.  (one fairly crappy car, but one car).  Dad came up today and towed the Olds to it’s final resting place on the farm, where it will salvaged for parts.  It will turn on, but won’t stay on once it is put in gear, so he had to winch it up to the trailer.

Zane “fixing” something

It wasn’t a bad car when it was working.  The driver’s side window hadn’t worked for a while, so if you went through a drive through you had to open your door.  lol.  As much as it annoyed me, I was sorry to see it die.

Grandma & Grandpa came for the small birthday party (we are having the big party with friends this summer).  Zane choose the cake and the menu.  For supper we had cheeseburgers and cheetos (Zane had Jalapino cheetos that he saw in the store).  The cake was chocolate and very tasty.  When Zach first picked up a smaller cake that resembled Zora’s, Zane said “No, Zora’s cake” and went and got the chocolate rectangle cake instead. 

We ate supper, then opened gifts, then had cake and ice cream.  My folks couldn’t stay long because there was a storm headed in, but Zane seemed to understand why they had to leave earlier than usual and remained happy through the evening.

Happy Birthday my Beautiful Son.  I think you have officially left “little kid” now.  It is going too fast.