moving day.

on friday we took on the dreaded task of cleaning out our big backyard fishpond.
in all the years we have had it (13) we have never had to clean out the entire thing.
and i hope i never have to again.
since last summer it had gotten so cloudy, that you couldn't even see the fish anymore...which is the whole point.

we had to empty all the water into giant stock tanks.
we borrowed most of them from friends.  (thanks joan & alden, and van!)
we also ended up buying one with another friend who also has to clean out his fish pond.

sorry if you lived in our neighborhood and smelled that nasty stench on friday...
pumping all that water out smelled disgusting!

we then transferred the fish one by one into the stock tanks while we dug out all the muck and silt from the bottom.

once it was all scrubbed, shop vac'd and hosed down, it looked much better.

my neighbor kids, sophie and lawson came to see what it looked like.
they even touched the fish that were in the tanks.

craig told lawson he may not let him out since he was wearing a KU shirt.  ...i think for a minute, lawson believed him.

we let all the muck from the tank water settle to the bottom and them pumped off the top stuff to put back in the pond, mixed in with some city water.
you have to have around 3/4 of the original water, or the fish can't survive.  it contains good bacteria that they need.
the guy helping is our friend ...my surrogate teenagers dad.
he has two giant fish ponds too, which means we get to help him when he does the same thing.

once the water got high enough, we were ready to put the fish back in.
sophie and lawson wanted to come back to watch, and amy was nice enough to take pictures for me since i was catching fish and was covered in muck.  THANKS AMY!!

i should probably warn you that these aren't just little gold fish.  they are obnoxiously huge koi with a few large goldfish.
a lot of people always ask if we know how big they are, so while we were moving them back, we took the time to measure them. 
i wouldn't let them weigh them though...i didn't want to hurt them. (yes corey, i am aware they are tough!)
no one else seemed to be brave enough to hop in with them, so i go the job.

yes, i am standing in a 6 ft tank with 18 huge fish swimming into my legs. 
i really tried not to think about it.
i would corral them over to the boys with the net and then they would measure them.

some of them didn't even care.
this picture was taken right after one of them decided he didn't want to have anything to do with being caught.

he splashed that filthy water right up into our faces...into my mouth.  NASTY!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 lawson thought it was great, but gretchen wasn't too impressed.

i love the kids' faces in the background of this pic. :)

most of the fish measured between 20 and 24 inches.  some were a little more than that.
the biggest one, which we call beluga, measured in at 31 inches long and 9 inches wide.  CRAZY!!!

 

 are you creeped out that i am holding those fish.  amy j was. :)

the fish busted a couple of the nets, because they were so heavy.
you had to carry them from the bottom.

it pretty much took all day to get it done.
i 'm glad it's over...i think the fish are too.

now, you can finally see all the fish, and all the way to the bottom.
it looks so much better.
and so did i after a much needed shower.

miley thanked lawson for his help with kisses.

later that evening when the fish pond was all back together, i checked on momma birdie and her 3 eggs.
they had  all hatched!

have a awesome memorial day!

my beautiful niece's.

one is about to become a momma,, and the other just graduated from 8th grade.

kylee...6 mo along.

sierra.

they are sisters....on my brothers side.

aren't they just gorgeous? 
i think so.

kylee lives in arizona now, but came home for a baby shower.

she is having a girl...

i can't wait to meet her...i bet she will have her momma's beautiful smile and dimples.

i drove to my brothers house, through the crazy storms to fix sierra's hair for her graduation party.

my nephew wasn't too thrilled about pictures.

not even the lure of 20 bucks could get him to crack a smile.

sierra and her mom.

i loved her dress.

ahhh...middle school.

congratulations to both of you!
i love being your aunt amy!
i'm just not sure about becoming, GREAT aunt amy.
that just sounds so old.

waiting....

this momma robin is so very patient...
she even lets me water the flowers while she is still in the basket.
i just have to talk really sweet to her. :)

hopefully baby pictures to come.

38.

in honor of my 38th (really???) birthday...

here are thirty eight random things, thoughts, whatevers about me.

#1 why is it that 38 sounds so much older than 37?

#2 it was time to retire my most favorite jean shorts yesterday....they (used) to velcro shut.

but every time i bend over they open up.  no bueno!  adios old navy faithfuls!

#3 i seriously could eat totinos canadian bacon pizza every day.

#4 my flowers i planted almost 2 weeks ago are looking awesome.  my water bill, not so much!

#5 i graduated 20 years ago this month from high school...wait? that has got to be a typo!!!!

#6 my favorite magazine is coastal living...imagine that.

#7 why am i not on some coast right now for my birthday???

#8 me and miley share a birthday month...her's is on the 31st.  even in dog years, she won't be as old as i am.

#9 i love seafood. (fresh seafood)

#10 per my husband, i just ordered a new canon (big girl) camera for my birthday.  YES!!!!!

#11 i love baseball and football...basketball...not so much. (sorry coach fox!)

#12 of all my blog posts, the number one most viewed is jan's potato burritos

#13 i heart polka-dots.

#14 i think i have the greatest neighborhood and neighbors ever!    REALLY!!!

#15 my favorite (adult) drink right now is a frozen mojito...followed closely by the summer beer at sadies dog bar.

 #16 i only crack eggs one handed.

#17 thirty-eight  things is a lot, this is going to take forever!

#18 it's all your fault danielle, you suggested i do this!  remember?

#19 i used to clean houses in high school.

#20 i also was a waitress, cook and worked at k-mart. 

#21 when i went to renew my drivers license, i had to change my weight.  (she asked!  the nerve!) UGH!

#22 she at least let me pick a good picture.

#23 hubby is taking me to a new restaurant in town tomorrow for lunch, then sadies for dinner.

#24 i am going to be a great-aunt.  that really makes me sound old!

#25 my sweet surrogate  teenager gave me a big bouquet of balloons and a necklace and earring set for my birthday/mothers day.  :)

#26 i had to clean house yesterday, so i broke my cardinal rule of turning the a/c on until july.  it was 100*!!!!

#27 if coffee tasted like it smelled, i might consider actually drinking it.

#28 i can't wait for our trip to see my bestie this summer in maine!  lobstah every day!!!!

#29 my favorite flavor of cake is red velvet...just say'n :)

#30  i wish i could get braces again...the invisible kind though.

#31 i think at some point in my life, i have had every color of hair imaginable.  the ronald mcdonald red was by far the worst!

#32 when i cross my eyes...they start bouncing back and forth really fast.  people say it's creepy.

#33 i used to be a gymnast and cheerleader.

#34 my first car was a 1981 powder blue, 4 door hatchback chevy chevette.  (we called it the S#@! vette...or the wheat-vette...long story!)

#35 i still have the pair of guess overalls my grandma bought me in 8th grade.  i think i got every penny of the $99 she spent on them. 

#36  i said i still have them...not that i can still wear them.  because i can't. BOO!

#37 i love stormy weather.  the color of the sky, the smell, sounds of thunder.  good thing, cause that's the forecast for today.

#38 who cares if i'm 38....i would rather have a birthday, than not have one!

spring barn sale.

as much fun as the barn sale was on saturday....i am relieved it's over.
it's a lot of hard, but definitely worth it, fun work.
...but i am exhausted.
which is why i am just now getting this posted.

i loved seeing so many new and familiar faces.

i met lots of other blogger girls too.
it's weird, but yet fun to me, when someone i don't know tells me they read my blog.
i met a blogger who drove 4 hours just for the barn sale.
it was awesome to meet you nicole

i couldn't have done all this without my neighbor amy j ...seriously!  she was a HUGE help.
THANK YOU AMY!!!!!

this was our..."i can't believe we are here by 7:30 am"  smiles.
if you know me in real life, then you know i don't see the sun come up very often.

i'm pretty sure i dominated the turquoise market with my booth. :)

estimates that around 500 people shopped the barn sale.  WOW!
have a look at some of the other great booths...

i loved all the great color everywhere...it made the flat kansas land  look very festive.

i bought the turquoise keep calm pendant...love it.

 it was a great atmosphere...families, girlfriends, dogs, even a few horses and husbands. :)

thank you miss beki (& josh), for all your hard work to make this sale possible.
your farm is awesome!
i can't wait to do it again in the fall!
...and thanks for all the wonderful shoppers who came out and supported me!
YOU GUYS ROCK!!