Tie-tasting and tong-fed watermelon in Hutchinson..its all the rage!

We picked up the two girls Maddalena (age 7) and Carolina (age 10) from school, along with Francesca (A.K.A. “Frankie,”  2 yrs)  and Anselm (A.K.A.”Handsome,” 7 months) and headed to Reno County for a campaign event at The Hutchinson Town Club. “Handsome” is teething so he was a bit cranky. He spent most of the night being passed from one man to another sampling different colored ties. I think he liked the pebble weaved texture of Richard Chambers (our gracious host) the best!  We met lots of wonderful people including a very entertaining oncologist, owners of a local dry cleaners, bankers, and even a happy pair of newlyweds! It was a wonderful night and we can’t wait to get back there to visit some of the spectacular attractions

Homeschool

In response to some emails I received, I decided to write a post about schooling. For my own family, I have done just about everything including private, public, and home-schooling.  I have come to realize  that there is no”one size fits all” solution to schooling. So much depends on the child, the school and the family situation.

Homeschooling was one of the greatest blessings for us at certain times in our lives because it allowed us so much flexibility and so much depth of study in areas that we really enjoyed.  One year we went to the beach during non-peak season and we spent a whole week doing animal surveys and keying seashells. It was so much fun to sneak out of the cottage just before sunrise and comb the shores. Maddy was always the most studious and excited when she found a new shell to look up.  My children will always remember the summer that we ordered 200 butterfly larvae and watched them grow fat on milkweed before they transformed into Monarch butterflies. It filled us with awe to observe an animal so small, yet so complex that it could migrate hundreds of miles to a sanctuary for the winter.

Even though we are not homeschooling this year, we still enjoy family field trips and read-aloud books. Okay, so I have to admit that I was definitely one of those homeschoolers that would skip grammar occasionally in exchange for two hours of reading aloud Johnny Tremain on our hammock. With so many children and with them being so young, I learned two things were absolutely necessary for me in order to homeschool with joy.  The first was lot and lots of  baking .Our home always had yummy smells coming from the kitchen. Especially in the winter months, it provided so much warmth to have smells of cinnamon and apples fill the room. It kind of relaxed the children and provided an incentive to do their work well. The second thing was a great network of friends. I am such a copycat at heart. I have always been blessed to be surrounded by creative and intelligent friends. Whenever we would get together and chat about our homeschooling woes, somebody would always have an idea, suggestion or just a thought that I would promptly implement. One time I was overwhelmed with all the different history books and a friend suggested I combine all of them into the same history lesson and just adjust my expectations in terms of comprehension. It worked beautifully and the older children didn’t mind a bit that they had to listen to picture books or color pictures of  Columbus and the younger children didn’t mind watching while the older children developed complicated timelines and journals.

My children are in school this year and they are learning so much and in such a different way than they have ever been taught. Their teachers are very dedicated and wonderful. At first it was difficult to see them leave but now I am spending more time with my three little babies and volunteering for my husband on his campaign. It is such a  treat to be able to go out somewhere with just three children. People still tell me “You have your hands full.” I just smile and think to myself ” If you only knew!”

Daddy’s Home and Visit to Hays

The children literally tackled him with hugs when he arrived home yesterday.  You would have thought the children had not talked in two weeks for all the words that came out of them all at once. They retrieved all sorts of  art projects, drawings and graded papers from backpacks to proudly show their dad.  It always cracks me up  to see the littlest ones who have nothing to produce pick up a sock or a lego piece  from the ground and shove it in our faces looking for similar recognition.

Rob announced that we would take the day off campaigning and spend the day in Hays visiting family. We loaded the children and Grandma, into the van and off to Hays we went. We visited with Rob’s brother and Dad and then headed over to  pick up his Aunt Marilyn, who we took out to dinner. We went to this great restaurant called “Dos Oros.”  I highly recommend the Chorizo with cheese appetizer and the fried ice cream!

Zoo at the Zoo

Well, it is finally Friday. Rob has been gone on the campaign trail.  His absence is very much felt by all of us. The big boys, especially Sebastian (age 11) and Stephen (age 14), miss their confidant.  Rob usually takes each of them on walks after dinner and lets them chat about their day. I too love rehashing my day’s adventures with him before going to bed. Rob is a great listener and I am a great talker so we get along really well. I really enjoy watching the sides of  his lips curl up into a smile as I relate some funny thing that the children did that day and you just don’t get that over the phone. Rob went out to get Grandma in Hays before he left so she could give me a hand until he returns. Grandma has been wonderful. She helped me get caught up on laundry and has been baking for the kids everyday. Today, she made french toast out of big bakery loaves of bread .  We all loved it!

The children are home for spring break, so I decided to take them to the zoo. Of course, we had to all go to Walmart to get snacks and some much-needed milk and diapers first. Somebody asked Grandma if I was a daycare provider. Now is all honesty, that happens all the time.  My first thought is, what daycare worker would actually willingly take eight or nine kids into Walmart? I mean I am used to speed-shopping and It doesn’t phase me at all that I have to re-shelve the three boxes of Captain Crunch that Maddy (age 7)  managed to sneak into the cart or re-stack the twenty boxes of Goldfish crackers that Basil (age 5) set rolling when he decided to use them as a step stool in order to get to the Cheez Its crackers that he really wanted.  BUT I still don’t think I would be too enthusiastic about subjecting somebody else’s children to the whole wonderful experience.

After our Walmart adventure, we did finally get to the zoo and I am not really sure who was watching who if you know what I mean. Basil (age 5) and Paddy (age 3)  were so busy fighting over the who got the last oatmeal cookie that I think they missed half the exhibits altogether.  The animals, however, definitely did not fail to notice them.  I have never actually heard prairie dogs be silent. When my crew was passing them, however,  they did not make a peep…not one bark. they just looked up  at us, as if to say “you win, your louder!”

Just so I am sure to win mommy-of-the-year award, I took them all out for root beer floats at Braums afterward and then dragged them to a few antique stores with me (yes, this is my new interest.) After much deliberation and four antique stores later, I bought my first antique. It was an old draft horse collar. I am going for the rustic , rodeo, western theme, for our home so I am going to  have a mirror cut to fit inside the collar to make a perfect centerpiece above the sink in my guest bathroom.

Courtland, Salina and House Remodeling

On Friday, Rob was back on the campaign trail again. He went to Courtland, Kansas for a community town hall, sponsored by one of the area bankers and a longtime friend, Mike Johnson. He spoke about economic pressures being felt by local farmers and business owners and listened to their concerns. From there, Rob dropped by the Salina Journal office and chatted with reporter Michael Strand. Here is a snippet from that article that was in the Saturday paper:

Wasinger grew up in Hays, now lives in Cottonwood Falls and has worked on the staffs of Gov. Bill Graves, Moran in the state Legislature, and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback.

[One of] his goals is to reinvigorate the rural economy, using ‘a new Homestead Act’ with incentives similar to those sometimes provided to doctors who move to rural Kansas.

‘Too often, young people grow up, go to college and never come back,’ Wasinger said. ‘We want to try to keep that talent here.’

If you want the full version, click on this link:

http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/wasinger-for-congress

While Rob was away, I was busy hauling the three little ones (ages three, two, and six months) all over the place to pick out fixtures for the house.

I don’t think I mentioned that we are currently in the midst of remodeling our home. We have a beautiful old limestone house, built in 1879. We have also been blessed with a fantastic crew of workers. I love watching it develop through all the different stages. Right now they are framing the walls. Sometimes I feel like I am in an episode of “This Old House,” as I take my neighbors on tours through the falling wires and virtual walls.  We have a stone mason cleaning up the interior walls that we want to leave exposed, as well as re-grouting them. The plaster they used back then is called horse-hair plaster.  You literally can break a piece off the walls and see all the different hairs that were mixed into the plaster to make it stronger. John, our stone mason, says they probably used dog and other animal hair as well. A friend of mine commented that he was thrilled to find out there was a useful purpose for all his dog’s hair!

Home remodeling is not all that glamorous despite my enthusiasm over the horse-hair plaster and impersonations of Bob Villa. There are definitely days I wish the project was already completed.

The house is not that large and although we plan to add onto it eventually, it has a big yard and is located right in front of the elementary school. I always laugh when people say, “You must live in a really big house to have so many children!” My reply is always the same, “That is why bunk beds were invented.” It kind of reminds me of Bill Graves’ old campaign slogan of stack ‘em “high and tight.”

I will be updating the blog with pictures of the house so you can follow along the project with me.

A blog of my own!

I finally got the children to bed and I am sitting down to start this blog. By way of an introduction, my name is Meghan Wasinger and my husband is Rob Wasinger. Rob is running for Congress in our Big First District. Since this is my blog, I won’t go into Rob’s qualifications and why you should vote for him etc., but if you want that, you can check that out on his website at www.robwasinger.com.

My blog will be mostly the kind of stuff I love to read about on blogs. Real, family living, complete with all the struggles and joys of everyday life.  I started this blog because I wanted to find a way to share this experience with others and keep in touch with all the great people we meet along the campaign trail.

We will be adding lots of pictures and videos, especially as we travel around the State. My email is megwasinger@robwasinger.com and I would love it if you emailed me any questions or comments you have. While I can’t promise to respond to every email, I will do my best to answer them on this blog.

As the campaign progresses, we will be putting a lot of miles on the old 15-passenger van .  The best thing you can do to help our campaign is to keep us informed about events in your town that we can attend. Or even better, you can host an event so that we can meet you!

Check back often as we are also putting a map up on www.robwasinger.com of all the places we have been and linking them to the blog when we can. I hope you enjoy embarking with me on this adventure and I hope to see you soon!