The vacation post

August 17, 2012August 22, 20144 Comments

The world-famous Butter Cow, hand-crafted by Sarah Pratt.

Once again, I find myself penning a post about a family vacation. This time, summer has come and gone, taking our family vacations with it. This time, due to school starting in the middle of August (don’t ask me why), we were forced to cut our trip short by a day and decided not to go camping. See, from what I understand, schools are not supposed to start till after Labor Day (September 3 this year), but they are allowed to apply for a waiver if they would like to begin prior to that date and the governor can either approve or deny the request. I can’t recall him ever denying a waiver request and I can’t recall school ever beginning after Labor Day; it’s always started in August, and it starts earlier every year. This year, our school started classes on August 15, but I know some schools were in session last week.

But I digress. Instead of going camping up north like we’d planned, we headed south, invading Seymour’s parents’ house for a few days and running ourselves ragged.

Circumstantial influence

August 4, 2012August 22, 2014Leave a comment

Due to circumstances beyond my control, my usual Photo Friday post didn’t make it yesterday. As a result of other circumstances somewhat more within my sphere of influence, I’ve now had time to put it together. Stay tuned – it should be up this afternoon!

Friends

July 6, 2012February 18, 201315 Comments

Oh, Gretchen, how we miss you!

Make new friends,
But keep the old,
One is silver
And the other gold.

I learned that song as a Brownie, I think, and I’ve loved it ever since. The trouble is, though, that I’ve always had trouble making new friends. All of my friends (except for you, lovely internet friends, and I love you all so very, very much ♥) are friends that I’ve had since childhood – my oldest friend and I go back…um…*counts on fingers*…23 years now. Holy crap, we go back 23 years?! That’s kind of a scary thought!

Happy birthday, America!

July 4, 2012July 4, 2012Leave a comment

Today is the Fourth of July. Independence Day. America’s birthday. And on this day, I’ve got something to share with you.

All gave some. Some gave all. Some stood through for the red, white and blue, and some had to fall. And if you ever think of me, think of all your liberties and recall some gave all.
Photo by Kay Kauffman

The lyrics in the caption are from the Billy Ray Cyrus song, “Some Gave All.” I’ve always loved that song and on a day like today, when we honor those who fought and died for our independence, I find those words especially fitting.

The picture is from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Photo Friday on a Tuesday!

July 3, 2012August 22, 20143 Comments

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So today’s photo post is all about the weekend! I went to my cousin’s wedding this weekend and it was beautiful. The church was gorgeous, everyone was dressed to the nines, and the reception was lovely. My uncle (the groom’s father) is a beekeeper and made the unity candles that were used during the service in addition to providing the party favors for the reception – miniature jars of honey! Yum yum. 🙂 The wedding featured three officiants: Rev. Ramona Bouzard from Wartburg College, David and Laura’s alma mater (I also went there for a year – go Knights!); the minister from the church they got married in whose name escapes me at the moment; and Laura’s father, Randy. Randy performed the vows portion of the ceremony and when Laura’s voice broke after the first line, he said, “You don’t have to cry just because I am!” That was my favorite part of the whole service because it was so sweet.

However, I’m so tired that I can’t seem to type (and I’ve been trying to since I sat down to write this post yesterday). So instead of me blathering on about how hard it was to watch my cousin marry the woman of his dreams because he’s really more like my kid brother than my cousin, I think I’ll just let you all have a look-see at some of the pretty, pretty pictures captured by Heather Rissler Botine.

Hope everyone has a happy Fourth of July tomorrow! Stay safe, wherever you are!

Phlog along, folks!

June 15, 2012August 22, 20144 Comments

The beautiful, if shallow, Upper Iowa River
Photo by Kay Kauffman

Once again, it’s Friday. Once again, it’s been a crazy week. Did I say crazy? I think maybe cray-zay might suit a little better. It all started Sunday. Sunday began the first-ever Kauffman Family Camping Extravaganza. Our adventure did not exactly get off to an auspicious start. For one thing, Seymour wanted to leave our house by 10:00 a.m. as the campground we were heading to was three hours away. His parents were going to go with us, but they live a good hour and a half south of us, so we couldn’t leave till they arrived at our house, and they were late. Seymour’s mama wasn’t feeling well, so his papa let her sleep in a little late and it was nearly noon by the time they made it to our house. I think we pulled out of our driveway somewhere around 12:30 p.m.

About an hour or so into the trip, possibly a little more, one of the tires on our camper blew out in spectacular fashion. There was no fixing this tire – it was in pieces all over the road. I should have taken a picture of it, but I didn’t think of it at the time. And apparently campers don’t come with spares standard the way cars do, but Seymour is a smart one and bought one when he picked up the camper, so he got the tire changed and we were soon back on the road.

The excitement continues behind the cut! Will we catch any fish? Or only weeds? Hmm, seems I’ve left that part out. Oh, well – the answer was no fish, only weeds.

Photo Friday

June 1, 2012August 22, 2014Leave a comment

Welcome to another Photo Friday! Today’s post features those wild and crazy guys, Cricket and Seymour, when at least one of them was slightly less wild and/or crazy.

Seymour and Cricket, two peas in a pod

Taken in the hospital the day after Cricket was born (yes, the date stamp is wrong), this is easily my favorite picture of them so far. It will probably always be one of my favorites. Cricket looks so much like Seymour, and I love the look on Seymour’s face. It says, “Mess with him, and you’ll be praying for the cops to haul you away by the time I’m done with you.” It reminds me of the Facebook flair that says, “Someone who loves me is well-trained in the use of their weapon and accurate up to three hundred meters.” We have a framed print of this picture sitting on our mantle. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at it. If I do, I’m sure that means that an even more precious photo has taken its place.

This post is chock-full of books! (suddenlytheyalldied.com)

Phlogalicious Friday

May 25, 2012August 22, 20148 Comments

Fishing by Kay Kauffman

Welcome to the first in my Friday Phlog series! This week’s photo features an old picture of my oldest son, the Tominator (aka the Terrific Tomcat). This photo commemorates his very first fishing trip at his great-aunt Sandy’s house. She and her husband live in a beautiful gated community dotted with ponds that are kept fully stocked. When we were visiting them for their 25th anniversary luau (complete with un lechon – that’s roast suckling pig for those of you not in the know), my darling baby boy was treated to his first fishing trip in one of the ponds near Sandy’s gorgeous house.

Do you wanna see the house? Huh? Huh? Do ya? Well, then click on through and check out another pretty picture!