Bailout...

I'm SO glad that "bailout" plan did NOT pass in its current form!!

Happy Birthday Tanner!!

Okay, so it's not actually his birthday, but we celebrated it today as it falls on Monday... Of course, if you'll remember, we got him that "early birthday present", the go-kart, but that has long since been forgotten, as I suspected it would at the time... Oh well, tis life... (Not that it's been forgotten, but the fact that it was actually a 'birthday present' kind of was... :)

Tanner hamming it up while we sing Happy Birthday to him... He wanted a pumpkin pie as well as a cake, that boy LOVES pumpkin pie!! So a cake and pumpkin pie he had... :)

The party attendees... Seems like Nate and Lorenzo are always around whenever there are parties, etc... Not sure if that is planned, or just coincidence... :)

Tanner insisted on unwrapping all his presents with his eyes closed, he would then turn and see what it was...

Tanner also loves to draw, so we got him tons of sketch pads, charcoals and pencils, so hopefully he'll have plenty for a while!

Of course this was what he wanted the most... He'll sit there for hours putting stuff together like that... He also loves to take things apart, so we encourage that as well... Of course it's usually stuff that no longer works, we'll wait a few more years before we give him stuff that actually still works to take apart and then put back together... :)

Trip To The Fair...

So yeah, I had to get up early this AM to go find some gas, most of the stations around here are out of gas, and the ones that do have gas, there are lines 40 - 50 cars long... I thought by getting up early, I'd beat the lines, yeah, I was wrong! I had to wait for like 45 minutes in line to get gas, but I had to do it because I was running on fumes... :( Anyway, after I fueled up, I went and got everyone else and off we headed to the North Georgia State Fair...

Waiting on the gates to open at the Fair...

As soon as we got in, Tanner and Nate went running off as did Chance and Lorenzo... That left Carolyn, Taylor and myself... Taylor wanted to ride this one first, so we did...

Taylor with the animals she won! Of course we didn't play many games, they are SUCH a ripoff! She won those playing the 25 cent 'pick the color the mouse will choose' game... :)

We ran into Chance and Lorenzo on this ride, other than that, we didn't see much of any of the boys...

Before we left, we all went to the animal section where the kids fed the various animals... I'm just glad we only stayed for a few hours... :)

Yeah, I Know...

I just can't get over the fact that we are about to give these two yahoos a trillion dollars with virtually ZERO oversight or accountability?!?!?! Particularly the fact that the Democrats in the 90's, under Bill Clinton, are the ones who demanded that loans be made to minorities and people who could not afford them... Now they of course blame Bush for the issue, not that he is innocent, but wow!! Are Americans that Fing stupid?? I guess they are...

About Sums It Up...

Government...

Why the American people trust these morons and don't just vote them all out, I have zero idea...

Camping At Stone Mountain...

Joshua and Tanner on the Sky High again, they LOVED it!! Well, the kids did, not sure if Joshua LOVED it or not... :)

Waiting on the train to take it around the mountain...

Chance and Tanner on our way down the mountain...

At the covered bridge by the Grist Mill...

Taylor and Karen (Tonya's daughter, Tonya and her family met us there in the afternoon on Saturday)... At first Taylor was disappointed that the guys kept going on the Sky High, until she found a similar setup more her size... :)

All in all, we had a great time! That is until it was time to go to bed. The air mattress Carolyn and I were sleeping on had a small hole in it, I tried to "fix" it with duct tape, didn't quite work out. So every morning, we were sleeping on the ground... :( Needless to say, I was always ready to get up about 6:00AM... This morning, I was actually ready to get up about 4:20AM, but didn't get up until a little after 6:00AM... Needless to say, we left said air mattress in the trash there... We decided next time we go to Stone Mountain, we are staying at the Inn!! :)

Camping At Stone Mountain II...

Just getting to our campsite, we likely could have spent a week in the wilderness or more with all the stuff we brought... :)

Sky High, a new attraction at the park this year, the kids would have spent the entire time here if we let them, they LOVED it!

Sky High again...

Carolyn and the kids at the top of the mountain, the first day we took the Sky Lift up and down, the second day, we took the Sky Lift up, Chance, Tanner and I walked, or rather ran down, but Carolyn, Joshua and Taylor rode the Lift back down...

Dinner at our campsite...

Bo's Kennel...

So we finally got Bo's new "home" finished, we put in the 'doggie door' today so he can go inside or out whenever he wants to... The kids were rather ecstatic about the whole thing...

Bo and his 'doggie door' into that garage...

Chance and Tanner playing with Bo after they showed him how to go in and out the door, at first he didn't seem to want to, but soon figured out it was rather easy... :)

I know how Bo loves to dig, so we dug trenches all around the fence, drove stakes in the ground and wired the stakes to the bottom of the fence, then filled the trenches halfway with rocks and broken bricks, then topped it all of with concrete... So I doubt he'll be able to dig out anyway... :)

And of course Taylor... She LOVES to sit there and draw on the whiteboard in the 'school room'...

Yeah, I'm Still Here... :)

Just haven't gotten around to blogging anything... Although there is a LOT to blog about I suppose... :)

I haven't taken many pictures lately either for some reason... The kids and I have finished putting up Bo's kennel, now all we have to do is put in the doggie door and get a light up in that garage and Bo will have a new home!! The kids are quite excited about the whole thing, and now Chance wants to get a dog, and of course I kept telling him, "Not until we get the fence up."... Well, the fence is up, so I suppose Chance will be getting a dog soon! Now Taylor wants one as well... :( What can you do?!? So long as I don't have to take care of them, I really could care less... :)

The kids are getting quite excited about our camping trip this weekend as well! Should be fun I suppose, like I've said before though, I don't mind camping, until it's time to actually go to bed! I better bring LOTS of blankets though as the temps this weekend are supposed to be 60 degrees at night! :( Should be fun though, we haven't been to Stone Mountain in a few years. We are meeting Joshua and Tonya and family there on Saturday for lunch, so that should be fun! I NEED to round up the camping gear as I've not seen it in a while, Cory has used it a few times over the past few years, and of course we have only used it once! Perhaps I should set the tent up in the backyard to make sure there are no pieces missing, better to find out now than when I am actually setting it up AT the camp site! I'll take some pictures and post them when we get back, I know everyone can hardly wait! :)

I'm also enjoying the Presidential race, should get even more exciting in the few remaining weeks!

Finally!!!

Today I FINALLY got the rest of that stuff I've been working on for my neighbor's Sports Bar OUT of my garage and installed down at the joint... Seems like I've been working on it forever!

There's the shelf I made to hold the liquor...

The hostess stand...

Again... There are shelves in the back of it to hold menus, silverware, etc...

I put a frame around that mural as well...

I didn't mind doing it for them, but damn, I had NO idea it would take me as long as it did! Oh well, it's done now... Back to the deck to get it finished and the myriad of other things I need to get finished around here as well... :)

9.11.01

The Buck Stops Somewhere Else...

Yeah, this is who we want "...to have the final say in matters relating to a $3-plus trillion federal budget and a $14-trillion economy in a town chock full of con artists and tricksters."

Random Things...

Yeah, I'm almost done with that stuff I'm building for that Sports Bar... Today should be the last day I have to spend working on it thankfully!! Carolyn has been staining the remaining deck posts and railings, so I should be able to get them up in the next few days and be able to cross the deck off of my list of things to do!! Yippee!! :)

Taylor and Sarah (our next door neighbor) have been playing school ALL day, they LOVE it...

I'm liking those roses Carolyn planted, those evergreen plants we had planted there, most of them died, Carolyn transplanted some of them elsewhere, so we'll see if they take to their "new" homes...

The bushes we planted on this side are thriving, so that is good!

Chance and his friend are swimming, they aren't interested in much else at the moment... I don't blame them, it is nearly 90 degrees out right now...

And yeah, that view will look a LOT nicer at the end of next week after I get the rest of the deck posts and rails on...

Yeah, that's pretty much what is going on around here today, Tanner is at our neighbors house, he spent the night last night, but I suppose will be back in a few hours... :)

Work On Saturday...

Which I HATE doing I might add, 99% of the time I can logon to systems remotely, but it's that 1% of the time that I have to actually drive to the office to tend to an unresponsive system or one that has crashed for whatever reason... So anyway, Tanner and Taylor wanted to go with me, so they did... :)

Tanner, obviously, he LOVES going there I might add, even though they go about once a year, if that... :)

Taylor, I think her favorite part of the whole ordeal is the snack machine in the break room... :)

Tanner in my cubicle, he did not want to leave when I told them it was time to go... He was like, "Oh man, do we have to? I LOVE this place!" :)

Taylor, they also liked the fact that they had to "sign in" at the Security desk and get badges... They wanted to keep them, and were disappointed when the Security guard took them back on our way out...

The "sea of cubicles" where I work... Floor, after floor, after floor of them...

Pretty Funny...

Homeschooling...

Yeah, it worked out rather well I must say... Chance loves it, and Carolyn was a bit nervous about the whole affair I might add, but it turned out great!! I did so much research on this, and I will say that SO many people who "homeschool" just throw stuff at their children and expect them to learn, but there is no interaction... Many of the kooks I met at the Homeschool Expo, in my opinion, were not only not qualified to homeschool, but were not ever qualified to have children!! Teaching requires interaction... Between the student and the teacher, you can't just buy a bunch of material, or have them sit in front of a computer and expect them to learn... Don't get me on that soap box though... We aren't doing it that way though, there is teaching and interaction... It's working out great though, of course this is only day one... :)

This is "shop class"... I'm teaching Chance how to repair his dirt bike so I no longer have to do it for him... :) Of course the hour ran out and it was back to a Social Studies class, so the dirt bike did not get repaired, but we'll finish it tomorrow... :)

Chance with one of his 'geckos'... Yeah, I know his shirt is filthy, but he is clean now... They ARE boys after all... :)

Chance and Tanner with their "animals"... Chance spent all weekend making that "stand" for his lizards, and he is quite proud of it... I actually started letting them use my power miter saw a few days ago, so who knows what they will make... Carolyn wasn't so sure about the whole thing, but they are boys, they have to learn how to build things... I DO have to give them safety lessons periodically though... :)

So anyway, all in all, the homeschooling is going great! I do have to remind Chance that it IS real school though, but he has been great, of course this IS only the first day, but I think it is going to be just fine!!