It's My Life

We attended the Second Annual Camp-or-Treat event at Watkins Mill State Park this past weekend.  The Camp-or-Treat is a weekend of Halloween fun at a local state park in our area. Festivities include a Costume Contest for many divisions: canine, children and adults. There is also a Spookiest Campsite Contest.  Last year we used costumes we had made for our trip to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party where we were crayons. We attempted to add a bit of scare to those costumes and made an Evil Crayon Factory . We were not scary, but we were creative. This year we had to find a way to bring some scare but not too much scare because this is a family event and there were lots of little kids.  I have wanted to create a Mad Scientist Lab for a while now and this event provided us with the perfect opportunity to do so. The frame of our science lab came from two easy up tents. We used shower curtain liners purchased at a local dollar store as the walls. We found that i...

Yesterday was Back To The Future Day.  Remember the movie trilogy from my teen years that had  Marty McFly take a DeLorean time machine to the future? To October 21, 2015 to be exact.  I do not want to spend any time analyzing the predictions screen writers or movie makers made when they were making Back To The Future. I spent Back To The Future day just contemplating  the passing of time and thinking about my life thirty years ago and my life now.  When the movies came out my my future was so unclear. Of course I was only a sophomore in high school. But still, I had no career aspirations, no plans to attend college. Little did I know then a few short years later as I put myself through college I would find a passion to help others and spend the next twenty-five years doing just that.  I never saw myself as being married. Or having children. I never saw myself old enough to have a son in college, but here I am. In reflection,  my life is...

One of my favorite questions to ask young children is "What do you want to be when they grow up?" Their responses are so honest, simple and telling. When The Short Chic was little she wanted to be three things when she grew up, "A fisher-girl, a cheerleader, and a pilot." I still giggle at her selection.  Multiple events lead us to providing The Short Chic with an opportunity to be a cheerleader this fall. One of those was The Boy leaving for college. I needed a distraction from how much I missed him and since cheer required a three day a week commitment, it sounded about perfect.  We selected a competitive football league that also has a strong cheer component. Our chosen team has ten different youth football divisions ranging from K-2 flag football though 8th Grade Tackle. The Short Chic is a flag cheerleader. We have been pretty impressed with the organization and structure of the team we have selected, The Northland Chiefs. We have practiced twice a wee...

Four years ago we started a tradition. It started off as a small idea. I wanted to go camping. Then I thought it would be funner with other people. So I whipped out an invitation and invited several families that had young children. To my amazement; several of them said yes. Without much effort; our annual family camp-out began. This year, our fourth year, we had 54 people say yes and joined us at Smithville Lake. Every year the Family Camp-out has landed on a different weekend in September. Amazingly, the weather pattern has followed us despite the weekend. It is usually windy and cold on Friday night followed by a sunny and warm Saturday.  This year was no exception.  The highlight of my Friday night was having my son home from college; even if he came home with two fractures in his right foot. This year we had plenty of activities planned. We tried our hand at screen printing. We held a raingutter regatta. There was even an impromptu bags tournament. We ...

There is a simple beauty here in the Midwest. We don't have miles of ocean line. We don't have towering mountains. But we have beauty, none the less.  Simple things make me smile. Home canned vegetables lined up on a table waiting to cool. Clothes drying in the wind on a clothes line on a summer day.  I even find beauty in the falling snow. I love how it hangs on the branches of the Evergreen trees.  I love star filled nights. The simple beauty of fireflies I love how the lightening can light up the sky during a thunderstorm. Every year when I see fields of wheat or corn I see the beauty. There is so much work and love that goes into planting those fields.  One of my favorite sites is driving through the country and seeing these large round bales of hay. It feels all clean. It feels organized. It feels simple.

We attended the Great Pershing Balloon Derby again this year. It was The Short Chic's second Derby. The Boy is away at college and could not attend. He has not attended since he was The Short Chic's age. I know what you are all thinking, if you have seen one derby you have seen them all. Except that is so not true! This year the weather was a huge factor in the Pershing Balloon Derby. Storms were moving into our area. The flight was delayed. There was much debate about the safety of flying. Many flyers chose not to launch. Others decided they would be able to do a quick launch. Last year the weather was not a factor and the balloons launched and raced. This year those that launched played a quick game of fox and hound. This year we had friends join us. My work friend Shannon and her family drove up from the Kansas City metro area. My friend Debbie and her family also joined us from the St. Joseph area. My mom joined us. We then ran into another work friend. I...

Our love of Selfie photos has lead to the Selfie Stick.  Do you have one? Maybe you are amused by them....I was...until I got one. Now I think it is kinda fun! My friend Allen does not think it is fun. Or maybe he thought the first five were fun but the last eight or so where not? Either way, he still cringes at the mention of a selfie stick.  We took a selfie stick on our vacation and we took a large number of Groupies. Groupies are Selfies but only with a whole bunch of people. . From camp life to mountain climbing. From trail hiking to river rafting, From Montauk State Park to Elephant Rock State Park and onto Johnson's Shut-Ins, the entire vacation was full of fun memories.