Project Completed

Project one on our list for the summer is finally done! We had hoped to finish this project earlier in the season but the weather and a busy ball schedule put us a little behind. It was a lot of work mostly on my husbands part. I helped when I could. He ripped out the old fence first. Then he had to dig holes for all the new posts by hand because we did not know where the power for our well and the water line coming from the well to the house was buried. JULIE does not mark those type of things. That was the hardest part. It seemed like everything after that went pretty fast. We were on a mission this weekend to get it done and we did it! It was wonderful to just sit and look at it last night. We went in the house and Matt would say "I am going to go out and look at the fence one more time". When we looked at pictures we could not believe what a difference the new fence made.

Our MVP!

Shelby's softball team played Tremont on Friday night. Unfortunately, Matt and I were not able to make it because we were hosting a 4H Cookout and Campout at our house. It sounds like me missed a really good game. Shelby's team lost by only one run. Shelby was awarded the MVP award for that game. She hit a single and a double with 2 RBI's. Of course this happens the night we are not there. She thinks we are bad luck. Unfortunately she is not going to get to prove her theory because I am not taking a chance at missing that again. She has been hitting really well lately. This time of year we are crazy busy. Both kids are playing ball and we sometimes have games every night of the week but I would not trade it for anything!

There are also a few games I did not put on my schedule below.

July 1 @ 8:00 at Brock Lake
July 2- Double Header starting @ 6:00 at Brock Lake

Ackerson Family Reunion

This past weekend was the Ackerson Family Reunion at Bart's house. We had a really nice time. Both days were bright and sunny. Matt's Grandma Bee (Bernice) was an Ackerson. She was one of nine children! That is a lot of families to keep track of and it does get complicated trying to remember everyone's name and which family they are a part of. Without fail this crew of people gather together once a year. Sometimes the reunion is in southern Illinois, but this year is nice and close to home.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Release of the Butterflies

We did a really fun science project the last couple of weeks at our house. I got a really good deal on a butterfly kit at Hobby Lobby, then I sent away for the caterpillars or larvae. The caterpillars (larvae) came in a jar and we got to watch them climb to the top of the jar to form a chrysalis. It was really neat. Then when they all had done the trip to the top and were in the chrysalis stage I transferred them to the butterfly house. I had to carefully tape the paper they were hanging on to the top of the cage. Unfortunately we did loose one in the transfer. It fell to the bottom of the cage and never emerged. The rest were a success. One after another they emerged and soon we had five beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies! It was really cool!! We have kept them and watched them eat a mixture of honey and water off of sponges for about a week, but it was time to let them fly off and be free! Here are some pictures of the release.

Some Strange Phone Calls

We had a very interesting night. We got home from Shelby's softball game right before a storm moved in. I had enough time to play about ten minutes of catch in the yard with the dog. Then we came inside and proceeded to get relaxed and settled in for a night of t.v. and reading. Well there would be no t.v.. The power went out around 8:00. Not long after that we heard the sirens go off in Mackinaw. Matt and I do what we always do. We sent Shelby (Jake was at a friends house) and the dogs to the basement, then we stepped out onto the porch. Shelby would yell every once in awhile giving us updates she heard on the weather radio. Then the phone calls started coming. The calls went something like this:

Me: "Hello"
Caller: "Where are you?"
Me: "Standing out on my back porch watching the clouds"
Caller: "Um, well there looks to be about three funnel clouds in your area and at least one looks like it is right on top of you."
Me: "Yikes"!
Caller: "Maybe you should go to the basement"
Me: "We are not seeing anything"
Caller: "Call me later so I know you are okay"
Me: "Okie Dokie"

This conversation happened more than once last night. Others called after the all clear to tell us that their neighbor saw a tornado around the conservation area (which is us). You think I would have been scared or perhaps shaken up because of such a close call. Instead I find myself feeling disappointed that I missed it. Don't get me wrong. I never want one to come at my house, but I would like to see one at least once. Perhaps it could just stay out in a field and do no harm. We did later confirm that all the funnel cloud spottings were within a mile or two of our house. Crazy!!! We got power back around 11:30 even though the power company said it would be 3:00 a.m.. Thank god for small favors.

Here is a link to some video a guy to with his cell phone of the tornado everyone thought was close to our house. http://www.week.com/younews/19552009.html

The Simple Things in Life

Sometimes I think we get so busy we forget to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. Like bubbles. George stopped to enjoy this particular wonder this morning. Now granted I would not go as far as he did (he was eating them), but it is relaxing and fun to chase bubbles once in awhile. If you have not done it lately stop what you are doing, go to the dollar store, buy a container of bubbles, and come home and sit on your porch blowing bubbles. Not only will you smile but you might even feel relaxed. Just something that kids and dogs can remind us. Another reason I love my job!!