Every morning I sit with David at school when I drop him off for about 10-15 minutes. This is our special time to sit together, play games (normally "Hide the Trash"), and talk to his teacher about his day yesterday and the upcoming day. This morning we were talking about he was just being silly.
Then....he pointed to his chest and said "Do you know what's in my heart?".
I said "What?"
He said "Jesus lives there."
WOW. I love that kid.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Lately....
....we've been busy.
T-ball games, t-ball practices, sneezing, playing outside every night (the weather is amazing), going to the zoo, sneezing, getting ready for our big camping trip, getting our house ready to put on the market (big maybe), working in the yard, sneezing, eating out too much (because of the busy-ness), planting our seedlings in the garden, and the other normal just keeping up with life and friends stuff.
Did I mention we've been doing lots of sneezing? Me, especially. We were actually visiting with friends today and I just said "We have to leave NOW before my head explodes". This perscription stuff I'm on isn't cutting it.
Oh well, spring will be over in a few months. Then it will be onto fall - my two favorite seasons and I'm miserable during most of both of them because of the allergies. Lovely. I hope David doesn't get them bad but he does do his fair share of sneezing.
We went to the zoo recently with our friends Randle and Katrina and their youngest daughter, Harley. Here is a picture of Harley and David hamming it up. They have become good friends since they moved back to Alabama. David loves going to their house (they have chickens and several dogs and lots of land to run around, and garbage cans to roll down hills in....not much can be more fun than just being out in the country with lots to do).
David loves to look at maps (apparently, so does Harley). He always wants to see the map on the navagation system on the truck - he may be a map designer when he grows up. Who knows. Here he is studying the map to find the bathrooms. Harley showed him where they were.
Our boy...how cute is he?
T-ball games, t-ball practices, sneezing, playing outside every night (the weather is amazing), going to the zoo, sneezing, getting ready for our big camping trip, getting our house ready to put on the market (big maybe), working in the yard, sneezing, eating out too much (because of the busy-ness), planting our seedlings in the garden, and the other normal just keeping up with life and friends stuff.
Did I mention we've been doing lots of sneezing? Me, especially. We were actually visiting with friends today and I just said "We have to leave NOW before my head explodes". This perscription stuff I'm on isn't cutting it.
Oh well, spring will be over in a few months. Then it will be onto fall - my two favorite seasons and I'm miserable during most of both of them because of the allergies. Lovely. I hope David doesn't get them bad but he does do his fair share of sneezing.
We went to the zoo recently with our friends Randle and Katrina and their youngest daughter, Harley. Here is a picture of Harley and David hamming it up. They have become good friends since they moved back to Alabama. David loves going to their house (they have chickens and several dogs and lots of land to run around, and garbage cans to roll down hills in....not much can be more fun than just being out in the country with lots to do).
David loves to look at maps (apparently, so does Harley). He always wants to see the map on the navagation system on the truck - he may be a map designer when he grows up. Who knows. Here he is studying the map to find the bathrooms. Harley showed him where they were. 
Our boy...how cute is he?
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Mudbathing in the middle of the woods, you should try it sometime
Today we took the go-kart and 4-wheeler to the old Anniston Army Depot property in Talladega. I've only been there once, but Brad and David went a few weekends ago with Ray and they discovered a lot of great trails and a river to explore. It's been a while since I've been able to ride, so I was really looking forward to our day.
It started off really well - we climbed a bunch of pretty good hill climbs and went through LOTS of mud. Most of the mud holes were pretty hard packed so there wasn't much concern for either of us to get stuck. We spent the afternoon trying to find the river. Brad had told me that it would be good for taking our shoes off and relaxing for a bit. We got pretty close to it, but about 10 other ATV's were on the trail hanging out (IN THE WAY) so we turned around to try and find another trail to get to the river.
We met up with a guy on a 4-wheeler and he showed us which trail to go down to get to the river...however, he did NOT warn us of the huge mud puddle between that point and the river. We came up to this puddle (which turned out to be more of a lake) and Brad stuck towards the right hand side of it. Since all day I had been able to go straight down the middle of each puddle I thought nothing of it and did the same on this one. That was one - big - mistake. I immediately sunk. David was with me in the kart and he flipped out. The left side of the kart (my side) fell in a hole that was probably 2 1/2 feet deep, the mud splashed all over us and then settled up over my waist. David was mostly out of the mud, but still got splashed pretty good and was just genuinely scared. Brad waded to the kart and got David out. He was a trooper once we got him calmed down and just watched the next 30 minutes unfold on the sidelines.
I cut off the kart to make sure I didn't mess up the engine any more, but when Brad hooked the tow rope up to it I started it back up and hit reverse. This did NOTHING other than COVER me with mud even more. Up to this point I only had the mud from my feet to above my waist. Once I tried to go in reverse the mud was being flung up all over the kart and in turn all over me, the only thing keeping it out of my eyes was my helmet (my brand NEW helmet, which is not so brand new anymore). The strap broke, so plan B was to get out and push. Brad went to the drivers side and fell into the hole (by the way, the mud was VERY cold). Between the two of us we were able to get it pushed out of the hole. I guess that working out I've been doing paid off a bit today. From there we got it turned around and retied the tow rope to it and Brad towed us out.
Right after he got me fully out of the hole and just before he towed us out of the trail a big group of ATV's passed by us and they all individually stopped to say something like "Oh, yeah, there's a really big hole there". Oh - yeah - thanks for telling me, but I just went for a swim. I guess they didn't notice that I was covered head to toe (literally) in mud.
I think Brad was kind ticked at first because I went straight through the mud when I should have followed his lead and gone to the right...but oh well. I seriously laughed the entire time...I tried to be quiet about the laughing, but sometimes it was just so funny I couldn't help it. I just hope that the mud bath the kart (and David and I) took didn't compeltely ruin the engine.
When we got back to the truck we cleaned the air filter and a couple of screens as best we could and the kart still wouldn't start up. We'll check it tomorrow and hope for the best.
Unfortunately, we did not have our camera with us today, but Brad did snap one picture on his iphone of David and me in front of the kart. You'll have to see it on facebook though. We both look pretty rough.
When we got home tonight and I took a shower I had to wash my hair three times to get all the mud out. I promise I have never felt more disgusting in my entire life. But it was oh....so....fun!
It started off really well - we climbed a bunch of pretty good hill climbs and went through LOTS of mud. Most of the mud holes were pretty hard packed so there wasn't much concern for either of us to get stuck. We spent the afternoon trying to find the river. Brad had told me that it would be good for taking our shoes off and relaxing for a bit. We got pretty close to it, but about 10 other ATV's were on the trail hanging out (IN THE WAY) so we turned around to try and find another trail to get to the river.
We met up with a guy on a 4-wheeler and he showed us which trail to go down to get to the river...however, he did NOT warn us of the huge mud puddle between that point and the river. We came up to this puddle (which turned out to be more of a lake) and Brad stuck towards the right hand side of it. Since all day I had been able to go straight down the middle of each puddle I thought nothing of it and did the same on this one. That was one - big - mistake. I immediately sunk. David was with me in the kart and he flipped out. The left side of the kart (my side) fell in a hole that was probably 2 1/2 feet deep, the mud splashed all over us and then settled up over my waist. David was mostly out of the mud, but still got splashed pretty good and was just genuinely scared. Brad waded to the kart and got David out. He was a trooper once we got him calmed down and just watched the next 30 minutes unfold on the sidelines.
I cut off the kart to make sure I didn't mess up the engine any more, but when Brad hooked the tow rope up to it I started it back up and hit reverse. This did NOTHING other than COVER me with mud even more. Up to this point I only had the mud from my feet to above my waist. Once I tried to go in reverse the mud was being flung up all over the kart and in turn all over me, the only thing keeping it out of my eyes was my helmet (my brand NEW helmet, which is not so brand new anymore). The strap broke, so plan B was to get out and push. Brad went to the drivers side and fell into the hole (by the way, the mud was VERY cold). Between the two of us we were able to get it pushed out of the hole. I guess that working out I've been doing paid off a bit today. From there we got it turned around and retied the tow rope to it and Brad towed us out.
Right after he got me fully out of the hole and just before he towed us out of the trail a big group of ATV's passed by us and they all individually stopped to say something like "Oh, yeah, there's a really big hole there". Oh - yeah - thanks for telling me, but I just went for a swim. I guess they didn't notice that I was covered head to toe (literally) in mud.
I think Brad was kind ticked at first because I went straight through the mud when I should have followed his lead and gone to the right...but oh well. I seriously laughed the entire time...I tried to be quiet about the laughing, but sometimes it was just so funny I couldn't help it. I just hope that the mud bath the kart (and David and I) took didn't compeltely ruin the engine.
When we got back to the truck we cleaned the air filter and a couple of screens as best we could and the kart still wouldn't start up. We'll check it tomorrow and hope for the best.
Unfortunately, we did not have our camera with us today, but Brad did snap one picture on his iphone of David and me in front of the kart. You'll have to see it on facebook though. We both look pretty rough.
When we got home tonight and I took a shower I had to wash my hair three times to get all the mud out. I promise I have never felt more disgusting in my entire life. But it was oh....so....fun!
Monday, April 13, 2009
My Garden
So this spring Brad has been amazing in really helping me get things set up for our garden. He helped me build a raised vegetable bed in the backyard. It's broken into two sections...one for the veggies and one for the herbs that I no longer have room for in the other herb section of my yard. I'd like to build one more vegetable bed for root veggies, but I'm not sure we'll have time to do that before it's too late to get everything planted.
We went to our friends (Katrina and Randle) a couple weekends ago and planted all the seeds. The only thing I still need to buy plants for are the bell peppers and onions (if I end up doing those).
So this is what the area of our backyard looked like before we build the bed. Yuck. I had a couple butterfly bushes (which I have since transplanted) but mostly weeds growing here.
Here is the bed that Brad helped me build. We used Pioneer Woman's design....the herb part (on the very left hand side) I built with scrap wood, but hopefully it will hold up for a couple of years too.
Brad had a huge dump truck come dump 3 yards of dirt on our driveway. It took about 1/3 of it to fill up the beds! We either need to build those extra beds or find a place for another 2 yards of dirt in our yard. I'm sure we can do it....the only challenge will be to move it before the HOA sends us a nasty letter about dirt being on our driveway. 
In digging up some other areas in the yard I came across some earth worms. Each time we find a worm David dumps it in the garden area....so they can aerate the dirt. I've thought about buying some to dump in there, but so far I've found (and transplanted) about 15 worms from around the yard.
Worms in their new home. They were pretty ticked and flopping all over the place when I first moved them.
On a side note: I'm hoping to have a compost pile this year. I've tried once before unsuccessfully. I'm not sure what I'm doing, but this is what I have so far. Yuck. It's behind our fence, and to my knowledge has not attracted anything other than bugs. We'll see if I can make it work this year. Anyone have any ideas to share?
And, finally, these are the seedlings (only about 1/4 of what I have growing) that will need to be transplanted in the next few weeks. 
Wish us luck!
We went to our friends (Katrina and Randle) a couple weekends ago and planted all the seeds. The only thing I still need to buy plants for are the bell peppers and onions (if I end up doing those).
So this is what the area of our backyard looked like before we build the bed. Yuck. I had a couple butterfly bushes (which I have since transplanted) but mostly weeds growing here.
Here is the bed that Brad helped me build. We used Pioneer Woman's design....the herb part (on the very left hand side) I built with scrap wood, but hopefully it will hold up for a couple of years too.
Brad had a huge dump truck come dump 3 yards of dirt on our driveway. It took about 1/3 of it to fill up the beds! We either need to build those extra beds or find a place for another 2 yards of dirt in our yard. I'm sure we can do it....the only challenge will be to move it before the HOA sends us a nasty letter about dirt being on our driveway. 
In digging up some other areas in the yard I came across some earth worms. Each time we find a worm David dumps it in the garden area....so they can aerate the dirt. I've thought about buying some to dump in there, but so far I've found (and transplanted) about 15 worms from around the yard.
Worms in their new home. They were pretty ticked and flopping all over the place when I first moved them.
On a side note: I'm hoping to have a compost pile this year. I've tried once before unsuccessfully. I'm not sure what I'm doing, but this is what I have so far. Yuck. It's behind our fence, and to my knowledge has not attracted anything other than bugs. We'll see if I can make it work this year. Anyone have any ideas to share?
And, finally, these are the seedlings (only about 1/4 of what I have growing) that will need to be transplanted in the next few weeks. 
Wish us luck!
Tball
I may have mentioned it before, but this spring David is playing t-ball. He loves it and is doing really well. He's one of the older kids on the team, so he can hit really well and run fast, but when it comes to chasing the grounder he won't. He pretty much lets all the kids run after it....unless of course his little friend, John Deric, is chasing it...and then David runs and tries to beat him to the ball. They have a little mini-competition going on each game just between the two of them. Coach Deric has let David play first base, third and pitcher.Here are a few pictures from his first game.
He's a good slider, while most kids hit their knees and fling themselves forward he knows to kinda lay down and slide on his hip. He really likes his baseball underwear and will tell you about them if you give him the chance (they are boxer briefs with padding on the hips). 
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Squash and Zucchini
We spent Saturday a couple weeks ago with some friends (Katrina, Randle and their girls). We had a great time – David got to run wild in their yard (they live in the country) he got to pick up the eggs from the chicken coop, feed the chickens worms, hold their baby chicks and duck (they were only 4 days old), play with their beautiful girls, watch as a train ran nearly through their backyard, play Connect Four, while Brad and Randle went hiking (snooping) to look at some land for sale near their home, and Katrina and I planted our seeds for our gardens. They even invited us to stay for dinner…and Katrina can COOK. She is amazing, seriously. I wish I could cook as well as she does. I’ve tasted several of her dishes and they are all so good. This one comes from her….it’s so super simple, but nothing that I ever would have probably tried since my family isn’t big on squashes. However, Brad really like it too….so last night I made it and it was good!
Roasted Squash and Zucchini
3-4 zucchini (sliced)
3-4 yellow squash (sliced)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or spray butter)
Salt and Pepper
Garlic powder
Place the vegetables in a baking dish and coat in a small amount of olive oil or spray butter. Add freshly ground pepper and garlic powder, then a generous amount of salt. I actually had to re-salt once it was cooked, but if you salt enough in the beginning it might be better that way. Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until cooked to the texture you want.
Roasted Squash and Zucchini
3-4 zucchini (sliced)
3-4 yellow squash (sliced)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or spray butter)
Salt and Pepper
Garlic powder
Place the vegetables in a baking dish and coat in a small amount of olive oil or spray butter. Add freshly ground pepper and garlic powder, then a generous amount of salt. I actually had to re-salt once it was cooked, but if you salt enough in the beginning it might be better that way. Bake at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until cooked to the texture you want.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Last freeze?
It's a good thing I didn't get to plant any veggies in my garden this weekend (when it was sunny and warm) because right now I am sitting in the lazy boy (watching Michigan State get thier butt kicked by UNC) with my toes being warmed by a raging fire in the fire place. It's in the 30's now. They (I'm not really sure who 'they' is) say that you should never plant anything in your garden until the middle of April or around Easter because there is typically one last freeze of the year. We'll - we've getting it today and tomorrow....I guess that means my garden will be ready to plant in this coming weekend (which just so happens to be Easter weekend). I need to have a load of good soil delivered before anything can be planted and my dad is coming over for Easter this weekend, so it will probably be 2-3 weeks before anything gets actually put into the ground. By then hopefully my seedlings will be ready.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
This ones for Pa
So it's been way too long since I've posted. Since we got our iphones I haven't really been online much at home, since I can surf the web from my phone, but updating my blog is impossible via the iphone so I've neglected to do so. Sorry, Pa. I think you are the only one that reads this....but I do need to keep it updated more often so you know what's going on up here in the 'ham.
So in the past few months David has learned to ride his bike without training wheels, finished up his basketball season and started t-ball, and we went to North Carolina to see our Bulldogs last b-ball game of the season. The weather has been really great so we've been able to spend time outside almost every day (even after work because it stays light enough until about 7:00). We play basketball, let David ride his bike, swing or jump on the trampoline. The trampoline part is my favorite...I feel like such a kid again when I'm jumping. I play basketball with the boys, but they are BOTH better than me. We've finally taken the training wheels off of his dirt bike! The first time he rode he did pretty good and only dropped it a couple of times with no real crashes. He hasn't wanted to practice much lately - I think he's still pretty nervous about it...so we are slowly encouraging him to ride again. Even just five minutes here and there will do him good without wearing him out.
Today was a really busy day - David had his first t-ball game. He was so stinking cute in his baseball outfit. I have pictures to share, but don't have access to them right now....will get those posted soon (promise!). He did really good and hit the ball hard all three times he was at bat.
After t-ball (and a nap) we went to hunt Easter Eggs with my very good friend Wylma. Her neighborhood does a really good egg hunt every year and she invites us (she's definitely like a grandma to David). The Easter bunny was there and we took a hay ride around the neighborhood too. David had a really fun time and with over 700 eggs hidden he had plenty to find. Again, pictures will follow.
Last weekend we went to the feed store and bought some seeds to start our garden. Our good friends, Randle and Katrina invited us over and she and I planted seeds together. That day we planted spinach, lettuce, okra, watermelon, tomato, squash, cauliflower, zucchini, black beans, green beans, cilantro, basil and italian parsley (many, many thanks to Katrina for the seeds and seed starters). In just a few days we already have sprouts on out lettuce and green beans!
To finish up our day, Brad helped me build a raised vegetable garden for these seeds to be transplanted to in a few weeks. I got the plan from the bed from http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ (my favorite website) and it was super easy to do. Now we just have to have some dirt delivered to fill it and the seeds to continue growing so we'll have something to plant in a few weeks.
This was a fantastic Saturday. We were busy all day, but it was a relaxing kind of busy.
We have finally finished painting the last coat of paint on out built in bookshelves. It has to cure for 7 days...so next weekend we'll hopefully finish up the office project by geting all the books on the bookshelves and get the office organized....finally. This is the never ending project...that has just gone on forever and ever it seems.
Our next spring project is to build a brick patio out back for the grill. When we built our house (over 3 years ago) we kept the loose left over bricks with the intent to use them somehow. We've finally decided to build a patio. We have about 250 bricks for the job and hope it's enough.
So this is what we've been up to.
We can't wait for our family vacation at the end of this month. We are going to a campground in Florida with Brad's family. It will be a great and relaxing trip together. Will post about that after it happens.
Well, I know this is a pretty boring post since I don't have any pictures to share. I'll get some loaded on the computer soon. More to come.....
So in the past few months David has learned to ride his bike without training wheels, finished up his basketball season and started t-ball, and we went to North Carolina to see our Bulldogs last b-ball game of the season. The weather has been really great so we've been able to spend time outside almost every day (even after work because it stays light enough until about 7:00). We play basketball, let David ride his bike, swing or jump on the trampoline. The trampoline part is my favorite...I feel like such a kid again when I'm jumping. I play basketball with the boys, but they are BOTH better than me. We've finally taken the training wheels off of his dirt bike! The first time he rode he did pretty good and only dropped it a couple of times with no real crashes. He hasn't wanted to practice much lately - I think he's still pretty nervous about it...so we are slowly encouraging him to ride again. Even just five minutes here and there will do him good without wearing him out.
Today was a really busy day - David had his first t-ball game. He was so stinking cute in his baseball outfit. I have pictures to share, but don't have access to them right now....will get those posted soon (promise!). He did really good and hit the ball hard all three times he was at bat.
After t-ball (and a nap) we went to hunt Easter Eggs with my very good friend Wylma. Her neighborhood does a really good egg hunt every year and she invites us (she's definitely like a grandma to David). The Easter bunny was there and we took a hay ride around the neighborhood too. David had a really fun time and with over 700 eggs hidden he had plenty to find. Again, pictures will follow.
Last weekend we went to the feed store and bought some seeds to start our garden. Our good friends, Randle and Katrina invited us over and she and I planted seeds together. That day we planted spinach, lettuce, okra, watermelon, tomato, squash, cauliflower, zucchini, black beans, green beans, cilantro, basil and italian parsley (many, many thanks to Katrina for the seeds and seed starters). In just a few days we already have sprouts on out lettuce and green beans!
To finish up our day, Brad helped me build a raised vegetable garden for these seeds to be transplanted to in a few weeks. I got the plan from the bed from http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ (my favorite website) and it was super easy to do. Now we just have to have some dirt delivered to fill it and the seeds to continue growing so we'll have something to plant in a few weeks.
This was a fantastic Saturday. We were busy all day, but it was a relaxing kind of busy.
We have finally finished painting the last coat of paint on out built in bookshelves. It has to cure for 7 days...so next weekend we'll hopefully finish up the office project by geting all the books on the bookshelves and get the office organized....finally. This is the never ending project...that has just gone on forever and ever it seems.
Our next spring project is to build a brick patio out back for the grill. When we built our house (over 3 years ago) we kept the loose left over bricks with the intent to use them somehow. We've finally decided to build a patio. We have about 250 bricks for the job and hope it's enough.
So this is what we've been up to.
We can't wait for our family vacation at the end of this month. We are going to a campground in Florida with Brad's family. It will be a great and relaxing trip together. Will post about that after it happens.
Well, I know this is a pretty boring post since I don't have any pictures to share. I'll get some loaded on the computer soon. More to come.....
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