The Sound of a Siren

We may live in the heart of Tornado Alley but we haven't had a typical storm season in years ... so it was quite a surprise to hear the tornado sirens going off Saturday night. That sound can be so intriguing and yet creepy at the same time (watch the :30 second clip below). The storm that rolled through the area crossed the northern side of the county, which triggered the sirens, but stayed far enough to the north to keep us out of harm's way.

Washburn Graduation

Since 2006, Cody has been going back to school to get his bachelor's degree. He started out at Kansas City Kansas Community College where he got his Associates Degree and then moved on to Washburn University in Topeka, KS. All his classes were taken online where he was able to complete his homework at lunch, from an airplane, a hotel, and occasionally from home. Usually he only took a handful of credits at a time so as to not interrupt family life ... that is, until this last semester when he took 21 credits to wrap things up. Hooray! Oh ... and the degree? Technology Administration. He's still trying to figure out what that means.

6 Years in Kansas!

6 years in Kansas!

Time for the annual photo in front of our house ...

... this time with the for sale sign.

 

 

In the Hoop

Few nights pass where Tyson isn't out shooting hoops in the driveway.  On most of those nights, Cody's out there with him too.  Nothing fancy, nothing formal ... just shooting hoops and attempting trick shots.  Here's hoping that our new home in Colorado will have a basketball hoop as well!

Banished!

We have a rule in the house that we as parents cannot "take" anything of Tyson's as part of a disciplinary action.  For example - his laptop is HIS laptop and we won't take that away from him.  However - we do reserve the right to banish them from the house.  Such was the case the other day.  Tyson had failed to turn in his electronics by 7pm and so they were banned from the house.  Leave it to his creativity to run an extension cord from the house to the edge of the property where he sat up shop and worked on his laptop, complete with WiFi, but NOT on our property.

Busy Squirrel

We love the animals that visit our yard and especially those that make our home part of their home ... not so much the opposums ... but we do like the squirrels. It must be nesting time for the little fellows. Here's a short 1:46 video of one busy at work. I thought about going out and taking a handful of leaves and shoving them down the tree for him ... but that plan might have backfired in a way that mother nature wouldn't be happy with.

Educated in Kansas City

Several years ago, Tyson's grade school class took a field trip to the American Jazz Museum and Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO. Now the whole family can claim that they've been there. Hooray! Fascinating museums rich in history and fascination. After we were educated, we pretended to be more educated by visiting the downtown Kansas City museum. Actually, it was just fun to see the facade outside. That's what I call the large text version! Finally, we waited in line for 90 minutes for some of the best barbecue that Kansas City has to offer ... Oklahoma Joe's! Well worth the wait ... even when it was 90 minutes of waiting in 90° weather.