Happy September from the Shooks

We have made the transition back to school also.  Tim is excited about his year with 2 new, young, energetic, "want to work together for the benefit of the students" faculty.  He actually has 3, one was new last year.  We went down last Saturday morning and cleaned the office and moved some pictures around.

My work has a good tempo right now.  Not swamped but work to do each day.  One company is doing very small rate increases next year so maybe we won't have so many calls - "My premium went up-WHY?"

We have new carpet which has really changed the look of it and I have a new desk that I am enjoying.

Best news for me is that Ascension voted to repair, clean the organ and add the digital components.  It will take lots of learning but should be fun!  The ones we heard had wonderful sounds.

Samuel had a gig last night and continues to be in what I have decided to call his "wilderness years."  We are still working to get him to accept help.  

Erik is playing some Ultimate.  Working on a Neuroscience class, a tropical biology class and a research class and pathogenic microbiology. You will have to ask him what that entails!  The tropical biology class will be going to Costa Rica over Thanksgiving for research in a tropical setting.  He's quite excited about it.

We finally had Peaches shaved as her fur was so knotted .  Here are a couple of pics.  Ember was sniffing to make sure she knew who this cat was.

And here are some friends from the pasture:  a walking stick, a green worm and a zipper spider, my favorite

Best wishes to all.

Rivers Ripple

Ahh, fall.  And a blog post a few days late.  It's been on my radar, but those of you who are parents will forgive me if you can remember what back to school, small children, and the usual household tasks entail.  ;0)  If not, I can loan you mine for a few days.
Seriously, though life is going well.  The move to our new house has been a great blessing.  We love it, the neighborhood, our backyard, and it's good.  If you have yet to visit, drop on by!  The newest edition is a new-to-us table and chairs. 
Sarah continues to enjoy staying home.  Dan reminds her to stay sane by shooing her out of the house at least once a week (for Bible study, a trip to Target-alone!, or some other reason).  She also has been enjoying extra work.   Since the spring, Sarah has been working 2 Saturdays a month and various days this summer (thank you Grammy!).  While Sarah was working last Saturday, the girls got new hats with Daddy.  Sarah has been working with a friend on starting a MOPS group at church and we've now had 2 meetings.  Attendance has been low, but the moms we've had have enjoyed themselves.  We continue to try new recipes and I attempt to read books.  I enjoy reading and REALLY want to be better about taking that time.  Working out at the Y twice a week is my other "me" thing and my workout buddy has returned so that's been nice.
Dan has been busy at KWCH.  His promotion to manager in May has led to more responsibilities.  He spent time before the fair creating a mobile website/app that showed people where food and events were.  It was well-received and downloaded/viewed!  Dan has been playing regular gigs with a band called The 33.  This gets him out of the house.  He is preparing to run a 10K at the end of September. 
Olivia started preschool August 26!  She loves it.  When asked, she usually has a "doing great" comment with further details if you prompt her a bit.  I'm amazed at what she recalls.  She's at Little Lambs and it has been a great fit for her.  Her teacher is the mom of one of my social work friends at Rainbows (small world!).  She's also taken gymnastics and swim lessons over the summer.  Right now she is taking swim lessons and actually took some swim strokes last week!  Looks like she'll take swimming next month and then probably do some gymnastics, but we'll see.  In her "down" time, she enjoys playing with her figurines (princesses, Elsa, Anna, Prince Wednesday, ponies, Doc McStuffins, and the like).  She's able to write letters from her name (sometimes in order).  She loves to sing and is active!  She can pump herself on the swing. 
Kinley is now 20 months.  She (and mommy) has been enjoying her time without big sister.  She was a little upset that we had MOPS this morning and I didn't stay to play.  We've been trying out some fall activities together (including painting with apples like marbles).  She's been quite the hostess for her friends as I've watched several friend's children over the past few weeks.  Kinley's favorite things are balls, babies, and her pacifiers.  She enjoys songs and books.  She is saying more and more!  Good news from the gastroenterologist 2 weeks ago--we shouldn't have a need to see her as long as she continues to gain weight (she's somewhere between 22-25lbs).  Also her food allergies/sensitivities appear to be mostly outgrown.  She's not had a hives incident for a month or more now.  The allergist did not want to see her for follow up.  Sometimes her tummy still bothers her, but we've been using lemon essential oil on her before bed most nights and it seems to be helping if it's bothering her. 
Brisco has had a rough bout with allergies, post a stint of the best we'd seen him in years!  He likes to play chase with the girls, sleep on Sarah's head/pillow, and eat any crumbs that anyone offers.
That's us, the short version.  Life is full and we are blessed. 

Playing with Aunt Mary

4th of July Parade!

Playing outside in the water and sand.

Theme week-oceans!

Brisco getting his check up from Vet Kinley

Consulting the ipad with Daddy

Botanica with Grammy!

Botanica

Botanica (yes, Olivia's Everyday attire is a shirt and skirt)

Theme week-Bugs!

Borrowed some toys from GGma and GGpa

Looking at rabbits at the fair

Olivia picked the airplane ride-no fear!

Carousel-Olivia rode the horse, Kinley sat in the seat.

Kinley loves her hat and pacifiers and kind of her blankie.

We know that you were just dying to see our new table! (it has a hidden leaf)

The beginning of Fall

What season is it right now? The end of Summer? I would say it is the beginning of Fall. If Fall lasted half of the year (or more), that would be fine with me. I had 2 Pumpkin Spice drinks from Starbucks last week. I have already created my wreath for Fall (by the way, I will take custom orders if someone needs wreath… or hairbow… or scarf…) I helped 2 friends make wreaths like mine and sold another to a friend. You betcha I have all my Fall decor in place inside. I am not quite brave enough to decorate the porch just yet though.

Adelynn started school! She is at Candy Lane this year. I love how close it is to our house. I am already loving the atmosphere of Candy Lane and the teachers. (Candy Lane is my Alma Mater) The owner was working there when I was there as a student and owned it by the time my brother went there (20 years ago). The other teacher used to cut my hair when I was little! It’s a small world. I already think their communication is worlds ahead of where we were at last year. There are a lot of reasons why this is a great fit for us.

 
Dave has been working and traveling for a work quite a bit. He was gone to Boston for a week in August, he came home last night from 4 days in KC. That is in the middle of his working 10 days straight – would have been 12 if he hadn’t taken a day off. In October he goes to Hawaii for 10 days (yes, for work). Adelynn gets sick every. single. time. Dave leaves. I don’t feel like this is coincidence. So this time – after she spent all day long trying to puke, actually puked 3 times, and couldn’t hold anything down on Thursday evening – I got smart. I have been dabbling in essential oils recently. So call me crazy if you want, but some good ol lavendar oil on her feet and belly was the cure. She had a great night of sleep and woke up a brand new girl! Ava also just got over a runny nose which usually leads to an ear infection. This time I was thinking ahead and a few natural remedies later – voila! *knock on wood* I believe we have avoided the ear infection. Like I said, you can think I’m loony – Dave sometimes does - but this is a great choice for our family! I can’t wait to see what else we can prevent and cure.

If you don’t do Facebook or read my blog, this is my Instagram. That’s a good way to keep up with pictures. Ava made her debut in the Oh Adelynn posts this morning on my blog!

Here’s some pictures:

Cake pops!


Adelynn and friends were prepared to stay up late and watch Mary Poppins. But it didn’t happen.

So happy in the mornings!


She got this My Little Pony mask from a birthday party on a Thursday. The following Saturday we went to another birthday party. Naturally, she had to wear the mask.


When Ava helps with coupons it’s a win-win. I can keep my eye on her and the paper gets a little more use before recycling!
  

 
 
I left my cereal outside unattended. A bath followed.

Meeting Waldo at Bluebird Books!
 
       
We have been to the Fair once this year so far. Adelynn wanted to do the sky ride! It was so fun to hear her talk about everything at the Fair that she could see. This age is fun because she is excited about everything.
  
Riding the train. Ava held on tight just like she did to Grandma on the sky ride (except she stayed awake on the train).
 
Happy Fall!

Chris' Update

August has been something of my free month since the campaign ended at the beginning of the month.

I've been volunteering with the Friends of the Library all summer and I got back in the habit of helping them this month since in the last days of the campaign I had gotten a little out of the habit. I just moves books around and recycle the ones they don't think they can use.

The next task I picked up was working on a rocket to launch (a Chinese Long March 2F)/display, which requires enough detail work that after a month's work it still is only about 2/3rds done.

After that I agreed to help the Reno County Democrats organize their get-out-the-vote efforts. This means wrangling volunteers, teaching them how to do calls, and keeping tack of which voters are persuadable and which just need reminded to turn out. Most of the data has already been handled by the Paul Davis campaign, so I think it's an easy job, but every RCD meeting I've gone to has had them completely fumbling the execution. I'd like to say I'll change that, but after having been "in charge" for a month, I've yet to do any real work because they're constantly sabotaging themselves by putting things off.

Along the way I also agreed to help the new Education Director at the Cosmosphere plan a program for schoolgroups to do, which has largely been what I work on in the evenings. My other evening task has been helping the Reno County Area Transit agency get their routes and services on Google Maps. It's work that started with the campaign and has taken a while to execute, but will hopefully launch this fall.

Then I took a quick trip to California with my high school friend Bismark, where I saw the ocean/San Francisco and then helped him drive a car back to Kansas City. Finally I'll be starting at the Cosmosphere as an employee (working the front desk) this week, which I'll use as an in-between job to support going back to school for a certificate in (probably) machine technology.