Under the Kansan sky

What an absolutely beautiful day! It has been so incredibly hot here, that 87 feels like a nice balmy day. I've been sitting outside snapping beans, waxing eloquently (as my dad liked to say) in my mind so I thought I'd bring the laptop out and do some writing. The sky is so blue with huge puffy clouds...a perfect day for being lazy outdoors. Why is it I have to kick my kids outside to get them to go out? I would much sooner be out here than inside. I threaten them with work if they don't go for a walk! What ever happened to kids spending the summer outdoors, only coming in for a meal once in a while? I don't remember ever being bored in the summer, but my kids are, even with all the electronics at their fingertips. I think their imaginations are bored from lack of use. So now they are outside...somewhere...and so am I. If I had a hammock the day would be perfect. Unfortunately the last time I brought a hammock home it lasted about two weeks because the kids thought it was so much fun to pile it in and swing like crazy!

So, a little about my family...We moved here to the middle of nowhere almost 15 years ago so my husband could take a small church. When we first arrived we lived on a farm 14 miles from town. After living in a big city, it seemed like paradise! We had a 3 year old and a 20 month old, and I was ready for room for them to play. It was so incredibly peaceful out there. Well, except for when our dogs kept getting run over--that sort of disturbed MY peace anyway! A few years later, now with 3 children, we moved to a farm 4 miles from town to a house that had beautiful kitchen cabinets...and holes in the kitchen floor! And the quarter mile from the county road to our house was like a big slipperslide if it rained at all! We'd stop, make sure everybody was buckled up well, say a pray we'd make it, then slide all over until we got to the house! But we loved being in the country! Sadly the condition of the house finally led us to move into town, this time to a major fixer-upper. We spent a few months working on it, then, with 4 kids now, made it our home for a few years. Living in town was a big change, even in a small town. I was afraid my kids would make too much noise and the neighbors would complain! I quickly learned they were no noisier than any other kid. But I sure missed the peace and quiet of the countryside!

About 7 years ago, we finally bought a house. We could have bought the fixer-upper but decided we didn't want to spend the rest of our lives patching cracks. The house we bought was not my dream house although my husband really liked it, but the yard definitely was! A very large back yard for the kids to play in, space to put in a small pond or two, and a separate garden area where I could plant to my heart's content! And...it was NOT a fixer upper. Sure, we've done stuff to it, added a couple of bedrooms in the basement as the kids got older, but we haven't been sitting around staring at hundreds of cracks in the walls! So, if God leaves us here in the middle of nowhere, this is a good place to be!

I'll write more about us another day! Now I'll take a little nap in my comfy chair!