The Annual Spring Camping Trip

Each May, we camp at Sam A. Baker State Park in Southeast Missouri. We have a "core" group of 4 families that go and usually several others. This spring it was just those 4 families plus Allison's parents--a small but close knit group! (small compared to the trip last fall where we numbered 52!)

Sam A. Baker has a nice level bike path that takes you to the nature center, creek and camp store, and there's a nice hiking trail to the shut-ins. There was quite a storm Friday morning as we were enroute, so the river was up several feet and there were some trees down. BUT--while we were there the weather was GREAT! We got a little drizzly rain Sunday night (it wouldn't be camping without some rain sometime along the way!) but we had sunshine Monday morning so everything was dried out for packing up.

One of the fun things we did was shooting off a "bottle launcher." The Gaines saw it on "Ask This Old House." It was a PVC pipe that they attached a 2 lt. bottle to, used a tire pump to add the pressure, then they pulled and string to launch the bottle about 80 ft into the air. To add to the fun, there was water in the bottle, so whoever did the pulling of the string, got a shower. We ended up losing three bottles in the tops of the pine trees, but were able to shoot down one with a sling shot. We were working on one of the others when we realized that it was sitting about 5 feet from a hawk's nest. We noticed it when the momma hawk flew in to feed the babies! Needless to say we quit shooting the tennis ball at the pop bottle! The third was way too high in the tree to be able to get it down. I'd love to hear the stories people make up, trying to figure out how a pop bottle got to the tops of the pine trees! LOL!

Camping at Sam A. Baker State Park

Bike riding is a major activity while camping. Here's Matthew learning how. Once when he was climbing on, he said, "HAT!" so I guess he's already learned the rules about always wearing a helmet! (no, he can't actually ride, but he did enjoy being pushed around. He loves riding in the cart behind Kenny! (no pictures of that though) :-(

Hiking with Daddy.

Sitting on the waterfall en route to the shut-ins. A beautiful hike!

Throwing rocks at the shut-ins. Matthew definitely is right handed with writing/coloring, but he's a "switch-hitter" with his rock throwing. As you can see in this picture, he's demonstrating his left handed skills.

Because of the wet conditions, every rock Matthew picked up had mud on it's bottom side. He's smudged it on his face here.

Our whole camping crew--front: Allison Bruno, Peggy Austin, Beth Branson, Laura, Adelia Gaines, Row two: Stan Austin, Anna Mae Bruno, Drew Branson, Katie Bruno, Meredith, Will Gaines, Rebecca, Kenny, Back row: Charlie Bruno, Emily Bruno, Andy Gaines, Megan Bruno, Rachel Gaines, Jenna, Clarissa, Mary Kate Gaines, Melivin Branson

We traditionally stop with the Bransons for lunch at Elephant Rocks State Park on the way home. Here are Kenny, Meredith, Rebecca and Drew Branson way up on the rocks.

and zoomed in, so you can see their smiling faces!

Meredith is the flower girl--again!

This past weekend, Meredith had the opportunity to be a flower girl again, this time for Cassie Leach and Andrew Smith's wedding. (Cassie is a young lady that we attend church with). She wore the same dress that she wore in Tim's and Katie's wedding last Sept. , removing the black sash and replacing it with a lovely cornflower blue sash and bow. The wedding was held at Little Prairie Bible Camp, where Cassie's parents are the care takers.

Here she is with Premier, the ring bearer. Aren't they cute? :-)

Bingley picture

I just realized that I never posted a picture of Bingley, Rebecca's puppy--so here he is!

This was our post-show celebration at Steak and Shake. The girls were "attempting" to do the "Got Milk?" look, but I think Jeni and Hillary were the only ones that were successful!

This is Leia, Clarissa's new puppy.

My three dear daughters in their costumes for "Pirates of Penzance."

The Stanley Sisters, a "Bevy of beautiful maidens," being scandalous by showing their bare feet!

Catching up! Again!

Well, once more my life has been way too busy to blog! But we've had such fun! We now have ANOTHER new puppy! Leia is Clarissa's border collie. She is so fluffy and adorable. She is somewhat shy, but that means when you actually can pick her up, she's a good snuggler! So once again, this non-dog person is enjoying a puppy!

We've just finished a 6 show run of "Pirates of Penzance." I wasn't IN the show--I helped my dear friend Kim, the director, with note taking during rehearsals and I was also the "ticketmaster." We sold out all 6 shows, even selling tickets for as many folding chairs that we could fit in comfortably for 3 or 4 shows. It was somewhat stressful--but FUN! The show was INCREDIBLE! Jenna played the role of "Edith." I described her as the "spunky gal in purple." It was a fun role for her! Clarissa was one of the Maj. Gen.'s daughters in the 2nd act. Rebecca was in the intermission show, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." We all had such fun! I'll attempt to upload some pictures.

Bingley

We have a new puppy! He is so adorable! That should tell you a lot, seeing as how I'm really NOT a dog person! Bingley is a Rat Terrier and is about 8 inches long and 6 inches tall. I've not uploaded pictures yet, but I will soon. He officially belongs to Rebecca but Kenny is pretty enamored of him. Matthew likes him a lot too, as long as he's not jumping on him. As little as Bingley is, his jumping can still be pretty overwhelming to Matthew!

Matthew's adventures

Matthew loves to COLOR! Today I discovered crayon on the walls. Yesterday I caught him coloring on the window of my office. Luckily, it came right off--not so the walls! He also loves markers. This morning he got into a pink marker--it's not the washable kind!

He really needs a haircut! We've already cut it once, but it's growing like crazy! His curls are awfully cute, but I think he's looking a little "girly."

ACDA National Honor Choir

I'm in Oklahoma City with Jenna for the American Choral Directors Assoc.'s National Honor Choir. Jenna is in the Middle School/Jr. High Choir--placed by age(15) instead of grade(10th). 287 singers, 6th- 9th graders, that are pretty incredible! Most of the basses are in 9th grade, and they are very good! I had planned to do some shopping today, but couldn't tear myself away from the rehearsal. It was such fun! Tomorrow--I hope to get some shopping done! :-)

Happiness!

Today, I spent a few minutes in the storage room, searching, searching.... I've been looking for my green Bible, the one that Kenny gave me for Christmas in 1992. It is an "old friend." The Bible that has a worn out cover, pages that turn easily because they are wearing thin, and lots of love in it! I hadn't seen it since we moved 3 months ago, despite numerous hours in the storage room, looking. With it would be our school prayer journal. Each morning as the girls and I pray together, we record our prayer requests in this journal. We've been using the same one for over three years, so I have been distressed to have this "history" missing!

But today--I FOUND THEM!!! They were buried under some "junk," the kind of stuff I didn't think needed to be rummaged through. It's been a Happy Day! My one sorrow is that now, our prayer journal is missing 3 months of prayer requests and answers. We've started a new journal during these 3 months, but it's not the same. I love going through the old one, seeing the prayers answered and remembering the issues we've prayed about. A precious possession!

Valentines Weekend

Kenny and I attended the American Cancer Society's Cancer Gala on Saturday night. We had such a good time! It's been a LONG time since we dressed up--in fact, we talked about is and realized that this is the first time Kenny has been in a tux since our wedding almost 20 years ago! He was looking fine!

This is the first time we have attended this event. Elgin was a sponsor, and with the sponsorship came two tickets. I think I like this "business ownership" thing-- Dressing up was fun! :-)

Jenna and Clarissa also "dressed up" for Valentines day. They, with the youth group at church, were hosting a "Sweetheart" dinner at church. They had a 50's Diner Theme, so they were dressed up 50's style. I haven't seen any pictures yet......

Unpacking

I spent some time this afternoon in the basement storage room, trying to get some boxes unpacked. I found my college scrapbook! Oh the "big hair" of the '80's! For some strange reason, I have pictures of Vert Morph lab--that's that lab where we dissected cats. Hmmm...I don't have pictures of ANY other class that I took in college! I guess this happened to be the most entertaining of all my classes! It actually was one of my favorites and the one I remember the most from.

I also found pictures from "Music Man," the homecoming musical my freshman year, (my last theatrical endeavor until OAT in 2006.) and Spring Sing, and chorus tours and club banquets and Christmas parties. And then of course my all time favorites--pledge week. I wore a camo hat, jacket, and pants, complete with paint on my face. I had antlers attached to the hat--which gave me a headache all day, and I had to wear a sign, "I'm a DEAR hunter." I really think that it should have been considered "hazing" but none of us even thought of that back then. We all had fun and enjoyed it!

Snow and other random stuff

This is Meredith in her new Princess nightgown that she got for her birthday! She LOVES it and has worn it nearly non-stop the last two days. She HAS taken it off to put on warm clothes so she could go outside to play in the snow.

This morning we awoke to a beautiful landscape of SNOW! REALLY! We haven't had a good snow for several years, so we are all quite excited around here. The girls have been out sledding and enjoying the sunshine. (Sun and Snow--no better combination, well, except for sun and sand maybe!)

We went to Mississippi this past weekend to see our friends and to go to the youth rally at their church. The youth rally is really just the excuse to go see them! :-) We celebrated Jenna's 15th birthday while we were there and Meredith's 4th birthday was the day after we got back. We haven't actually had birthday cake yet--that's coming on Sunday when all the grandparents come over to celebrate. Hard to believe Jenna is 15! Time goes way to fast!

I've decided that I'm not a very good blogger! Once a month isn't working very well. I feel like I should "catch you up" on my life, but there's really too much to say to do that--so then I don't write at all! :-)

I went to the ENT Doc today and was diagnosed with LPR Reflux. This is a type of acid reflux that effects the throat and voice box/vocal chords. I've had a scratchy throat and voice since I lost my voice completely back in Oct. And I have a granuloma on my vocal chords. Treatment--acid reducers, and from what I'm reading online, possibly vocal rest. The Doc didn't say I HAD to have vocal rest, but it keeps coming up in my research, so I"m thinking that it would probably be a good thing for me to do, but I'm also thinking that vocal rest will be pretty hard for me! How can Matthew understand that Mommy won't talk to him???? And singing--Singing is such a big part of my life! It's what I do when I am happy, when I am sad, when I'm lonely, when I'm excited, when I'm filled with thanksgiving--All the time! So much of the time, it's my communication with God! This could prove to be rather difficult.

Until next time--whenever that might be.....