A Sum Up of September

Our mama cat had another litter of kittens in August, but this time just two kittens, both of whom have so far survived.  I finally got around to taking pictures in early September. 

Catherine with Smoky, Anne with Velvet.

They are awfully cute!

The twins with Smoky.

Anthony carrying Velvet in his hat.

We picked a ton of tomatoes in September:

Here are a few of them.

Dan solved our desk dilemma by custom building two desks, one for Dominic and one for Joseph.  He built them in one weekend, I might add!  Each one is mounted to the wall and has a shelf.  They love having their own space!

Dominic is proud of his new desk.

 Notice the boys are separated by a bookshelf.  That has worked wonders to minimize distractions, as has facing the wall!

Catherine still has the same desk, but is in a new location.  I don't have a picture, but Anne and Anthony now share a long table.

 Towards the end of September, my brother, a priest and chaplain in the Air Force, came to our house one evening for dinner and visiting.  He is currently stationed at an Air Force base in Germany, but came back to the United States for a Convocation with his fellow Kansas City diocesan priests.  The Convocation was held in Wichita, lucky for us! 

The kids were excited to see Uncle Father Brian.

I was glad they got to spend some time with him.

I think they wore him out!

Later that week, Catherine did a science project which involved dissection. 

Dissection of flowers!

Our mini-van hit 100,000 miles in September!

The kids got to use their free ice cream cone coupons from the summer reading program at the library.

Yummy!

My aunt and godmother died in September and I was able to make it to Kansas City for her funeral.  I will always remember the picture I saw of my Aunt Barbara standing triumphantly at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, at the age of 68!!  After the funeral I spent some time visiting with lots of relatives.

My dad, third from the left, with two of his brothers and his remaining sister.

Fun at the State Fair

In early September we went to the Kansas State Fair.

Kids were ready to watch...

...the horse show.

Sheep shearing was amazing.

We checked out the rabbits and birds.

Kids tried to turn on light bulbs by bike riding.

We watched a really neat diving show.  One of the divers dove from 80 feet, which was a lot higher than this picture.

On the Ferris Wheel.

Anthony was ready to ride!

Way up high!

We rode the Crazy Mouse roller coaster.

The kids rode on this pirate ride that was all inside.

Catherine and Dominic rode this Tilt-A-Whirl ride that went forwards and backwards.

It was a hot day.

Catherine

Dominic

Anne

Anthony

Joseph

All Over August

Kids shucking corn, lots of corn.

Catherine fixing a shirt for Anne.

My sister and her boys stopped by on their way to visit my parents.

Dan gave the boys tractor rides.

Matthew loved it.

Andrew thought it was pretty cool, too.

For some reason, it is fun to sit on the propane tank while waiting for your turn. 

A big batch of bread and butter pickles.

One day Anthony woke up like this.

It didn't seem to bother him much.

But it rather alarmed the parents.

After a trip to the doctor, we all figured it was probably a reaction to a spider bite or something.  Two prescriptions and a week later, it was back to normal.  Whew!

Ice cream treat!

Dan's stuffed jalapenos.  I ate several, but they were hot for me.  Good, but hot!

First Day of School 2014-2015

This year our first day of school was on August 18th.  Hard to believe that was almost two months ago!  Catherine is in 5th Grade, the twins are in 4th Grade, Joseph is in 2nd Grade, and Anthony is in Pre-K/Troublemaker Grade.

Joseph was entertaining himself, waiting for the rest of the kids to get there.

Got two now.

Here they are!

Probably the best picture out of the bunch.

We are ready for school, Mom!