Wow!

Has it been that long since I put up a post?? I'd say I've been busy, but I haven't been really. I just haven't felt much like blogging. So I haven't, obviously... We did go to the fair the other day, so I put up some pictures of the kids when we went. There is a lot of other things going on, but wow, I just didn't feel like blogging. I know everyone missed my posts! :)

Kids riding a ride together...

Taylor, the guys were NOT interested in riding rides like this... Taylor enjoyed it though.

Taylor loved the bungee ride.

At first, Chance would not ride this, but once he did he must have ridden it 15 times...

This is the MESS out back I have to clean up. My neighbor was having some trees cut down, so we decided to have them cut some of ours down as well.

Of course my neighbors had them cut up, hauled off, etc... Me? Yeah, I'd rather save the extra $750 and just do that part myself... I'd be working on it too if it would EVER stop raining! It has been raining here forever! I just want a few sunny days! Is that too much to ask? It might be nice tomorrow, but it is supposed to rain off and on for like the next 10 days... I suppose I COULD do some things inside the house, but the VAST majority of the things I really need to be doing are outside! Nature though, what can you do... :)

Kids School Pictures...

Taylor

Tanner

Pretty Funny...

Things Are Great Here...

Yeah, I haven't posted in a while, but whatever, no one else seems to much either... :) I AM off the couch though, for the most part, because that's about all I did all winter was watch movies and do the daily life thing... We've amassed quite the DVD collection though... :)

The pool is OPEN!  Got the heater fired up, and it is the first time since we got the thing that it has worked.  Had problems with it forever, the installers were out several times, finally got it though!  Nice!  I haven't actually been in the pool yet, but I have been in the hot tub a few times.  Carolyn and the kids though have been in it everyday though since I turned the heater on...

Spring!  I LOVE it!!  Flowers everywhere, leaves back on the trees, but a LOT of work yet to do.  I don't mind work though, as long as it's warm!  If it's cold out, I just can't do it.  

That's what is left of the tree that fell down, I needed the firewood though, so I guess it was a good thing.  I burned half of the firewood I had stacked up during the winter, just fires and movies is about how it went...  It was a good, relaxing winter... :)

Got this piece of shit in the garage finally!  This thing has been inactive for about a year now, seals were leaking, had to have them all replaced, etc.  I tried to do it myself, gave up when winter hit, then when spring came around, took the arms down to the hydraulic shop and had them replace everything.  Got it fired up and drove it down to the garage about an hour ago.  Now I will just replace all the fluids and it's ready for a good workout!  Yay!

That's about it.  Got a lot of work to do around here, got a few side things going on, then there is life in general, like work, kids, school, etc... :)  The circus is coming to town in a week or so, so there is that as well, the kids are excited about that.  So yeah, see ya next week... :)

VAN MORRISON - I Can't Stop Loving You

I LOVE this song, and have nothing else to post, so why not... :)

Could Have Been Worse...

I suppose... I'm actually surprised that more trees haven't fallen. The root systems are weak from the 'drought' and then with all the rain we've had this month, when it is windy out like it was this AM, stuff like this happens... Oh well, I was running out of firewood anyway...

Happy Easter!!

The "loot" waiting to be hidden, or rather strewn around the lawn, we didn't really hide all that many of them... :)

Getting ready to find the eggs...

Ditto...

Chance and Tanner in front, and yeah, I haven't cut my lawn yet this year, or rather, Cory hasn't cut it yet...  He will next week.  I need to put down some weed killer, it was too windy today though.

Taylor seeing how many "money" eggs she has...  I think Chance got the most, even with a sprained foot/ankle...  

Carolyn and I hid the eggs after 'Easter dinner', which was GREAT I might add...  Some toyed with the idea of swimming but the water is still WAY too cold, I suppose I'll turn the heater on, I hate to see my gas bill next month though...  We then went to the park and played for a bit, then the kids all had to go to both of the pet stores so they could spend their "Easter loot"...  Yes, Chance bought ANOTHER hamster, I was thinking 16 or 17 was already enough, whatever though, as long as they take care of them, I really don't care what or how many pets they get... If I ever have to start taking care of them though, that will change REAL quick... :)

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!  

Skate Park...

Yeah, that's about the only thing I did this weekend, take the kids to the skate park... Marci brought Canyon over Saturday, the first thing the kids wanted to do was go to the skate park. Of course I told them "in a while"... So off to the creek near our house they went to while away the time. While there, Chance somehow twisted his foot/ankle pretty bad while jumping across the creek. Tanner had to piggy back Chance all the way back home, what a little trooper. That put Chance out of commission, so he settled back with his foot up, and off we went to the skate park...

When we went on Saturday it was pretty crowded, so we got up early Sunday morning and headed back and they pretty much had the place to themselves for a while...  

Taylor wants me to get her a skate board now, so I suppose I will...

Tanner still wants me to build one in the back, I did look into it, looks like it would cost about a grand or so.  I only have about a gazillion other things to finish up first though, so we'll see how that works out... :)

They are in the process of finishing this at the park, Tanner can't wait until they are finished with it!  Of course once it is done, it will make anything I might throw together in the back pale in comparison, perhaps that is for the best though... 

On our way back from the skate park, we stopped at the flea market and we found Chance some crutches for $5, which is great, because I'm not paying $50 for something that will be used for only a few days.  Off to the doctor we go today to see how long Chance will be "out of commission".  Sucks not being able to get around all that well when Spring Break just started, tis life though I guess...

Same Old...

Thing that is... It's been raining for what seems like two weeks here, it's not supposed to rain today, but it looks like it could at any moment. It probably will since I'm off today, you would think I'd still be in bed, but I have a built in alarm clock that goes off at 6:00AM, most days anyway... :)

There is a dog park near our house that we have started going to, not sure why we never went before...  The kids love going though, and so does Bo for that matter... :)

Yeah, that's not actually the "dog part"; I wouldn't have even taken any pictures but Taylor insisted and went to the truck to fetch the camera... :)  (Note to self:  don't go to the dog park when it has been raining!)

Speaking of pets...  This is one of the babies that Taylor's hamster had.  Chance now has two of them, we pawned two off on one of the neighbors, and there are a few left that Taylor still has.  Bad news is that there is now another "batch" of babies...  About six or seven I think.  This might get out of hand I'm thinking...   We now have five hamster cages and I have lost count of how many hamsters there are... 

Yeah, that's about it.  The kids are on Spring Break next week.  We are not really doing much of anything, the kids are excited to be off though.  I suppose I could have taken vacation, but I'd rather save that for when it is warmer out and I think we are going to get more 'winter' weather next week...  Sigh...

Nada...

That's what is going on here... Well, there is life and all that goes with it, but other than that, nothing earth shattering... We did attempt to go bowling yesterday, but all the lanes were reserved for league bowling, which is probably just as well, who knew it was $50 an hour to bowl these days?!?  The bowling alley is also a laser tag/bumper car/arcade/etc "fun place" so the kids had fun anyway...

I love these things for some reason, I don't think the kids are quite as enthused about them as I though... :)

I just hope Spring gets here, to stay!  Ah, a few more weeks...  

Spring Is Here!!

I, for one, am SO glad winter is over you really can't make it up! Of course it will still only be in the mid 60's to 70's for the next few weeks, but warmer weather is right around the corner!! Taylor and Sarah (girl next door) decided they wanted to take tennis lessons, so they had their first lesson today...

Taylor getting the hang of it...

I don't think the guys were too enthused about just watching, I think they thought they would be able to play on the empty courts, and that wasn't the case... 

I asked them if they wanted lessons as well though, they weren't interested... :)  Chance wants to go somewhere where he can ride his dirt bike, Tanner didn't really say what he wanted to do, he does want a mountain bike though, so who knows...  Not too much else going on around here, getting ready to get outside and finish some of the projects that aren't quite done, but I won't be starting any NEW projects, that I can tell you!!  (I hope anyway :)

R.I.P.

So the kids came running into my office earlier in the day, "Dad, Woody died!". I looked over and Chance was holding the lifeless hamster in his hands... I was in the middle of resolving an issue at work and just said, "Okay, well you better go bury it.". So they did...

The burial site...

Not sure if the Scriptures were necessary, but I wasn't in charge of the 'service', so not sure... :)

There lies Woody...

So not really sure exactly how it died, it was the one who had the babies not too long ago and then ate them (with possibly a little help from the male hamster, not sure, I didn't observe any of it)...  Speaking of baby hamsters, Taylor's hamsters have six little babies, still alive too!  Yeah, they all have hamsters, but Tanner only has one.  Of course Chance is down to one now too, but he seems pretty set on getting a replacement for Woody.  Why is a female hamster named Woody you might ask?  Well, Chance thought the male was a female when he got it and named it Elizabeth, then when he figured out it was actually a male, he didn't want to confuse the poor creature by changing it's name, so he then just named the female Woody... :)

Yeah, not too much else going on, it has been rainy and wet all weekend long, but I KNOW Spring is right around the corner, so that is very exciting!  LOT of things to get finished up around here once it's warm!  :)

New Project Perhaps??

We took the kids to the park yesterday, Tanner loves the skate ramp, so now he thinks it would be great to have one in the backyard...  Hmm.  I could practically make one out of the scrap lumber I have lying around, we'll see how that goes... :)

Waiting their turn, although Chance isn't nearly as excited about skateboarding as Tanner is...

Taylor prefers to just observe... :)

On another topic, my how times have changed since 1955... :)

A Year Older...

Carolyn and the kids had a party for me this afternoon...

A handmade card from Taylor...

42...

Yeah, just another day really, but the kids were appalled when I told them they didn't have to get me anything...  I do love getting things from them, no matter what it is!  Now I've got to go see what's wrong with the pool pump motor and Carolyn is cooking ribs for dinner...  :)

Fun Stuff...

Joshua told me about this site, kind of fun to play around with...  :)

PhotoFunia...

Not Much...

Going on that is... It's just COLD! Oh well, Spring will be here in a few weeks...

Funny.  Or at least I found it rather humorous... :)

True...

It's humurous at times watching our elected leaders "lecture" Corporate America...

Museum Trip...

So today we went down to Atlanta for "company day" at the High Museum of Art... I actually brought my camera too, but you weren't allowed to take pictures in most of the exhibits...

Kids in front of one of the exhibits...

Tanner and Taylor, it's kind of funny some of the stuff that is considered "art" though...

Another persons idea of art...

These are the ones that kill me though, there were only four pieces in the whole room, all different shapes and different colors...  Had names like "Green Curve IV", makes you want to locate the buyer...

Taylor getting her face painted, Chance and Tanner weren't interested.  They had various other "craft" things for the kids, but they weren't interested in those either... :)

Anyway, we had a good time and enjoyed the various exhibits and the lunch, although I'm not sure I would have actually purchased tickets myself to go... 

Yeah, Whatever...

Yeah, haven't really had anything to say lately, of course I DID have the flu!  Which sucks, I never get sick, but it kicked my ass...  I didn't do much of anything but lay on the couch, luckily no one else got it, yet... 

Other than that, not much going on.  We did get nine new baby hamsters, of course they are all gone now because the mom ate them, at least that's what Chance said happened to them...  Which is just as well I suppose, because nine could quickly turn into 47, then 275, etc...  I guess the kids "handled" them and apparently if the babies smell like "humans", they will get eaten.  I suppose it's just a matter of time though before there are more babies...  :)

No, I STILL haven't taken any pictures this year, I need to get on that!  It is "company" day at the High Museum of Art Atlanta on Sunday:

Website...

So perhaps I'll take some pictures there... :)  Does look pretty interesting, the kids seem fairly excited about it...  It's closed to the public, and there will be all sorts of "fun stuff" to do along with seeing all the exhibits, I'm looking forward to seeing 'The First Emperor:  China's Terracotta Army' myself, so should be a fun day...

Yeah, other than that, just waiting on Spring to FINALLY get here because I am so over being cold you can't make it up!  Soon Matt, soon...

Happy Valentine's Day Carolyn!!!

The Problem...

Are signs like this necessary??

Speaking of stupidity, really?? 

Yeah, the stupidity and ignorance of the average person is stunning really, and I don't think it will change.  I guess there probably always have been stupid people though, it's just that now people's stupidity is documented 24/7 and posted online for the whole world to see...  Speaking of stupidity, I think Scott Adams has hit the nail on the head regarding this "stimulus":

Ignorance Will Save Us...

Seven Spanish Angels...

Does it get any better than these guys?

Funny...

SO many people have kids that really have no business whatsoever raising children...  Perhaps they subscribed to this "parenting" magazine... :)

I'm Retiring...

Why is that you might ask?  Well, the conversation went something like this:

Tanner:  "Dad, doesn't 100 x 1,000 = 100,000?"

Me: "Yeah, why?"

Tanner:  "So all I have to do is sell 1,000 things for $100 each and I'll have $100,000?"

Me:  "Yes, I suppose so."

Tanner:  "Well, I'm going to go get started making something to sell then."

Me:  "What are you going to make?"

Tanner:  "I'm still figuring that out."

Me:  "Good luck with that son."

Tanner:  "How hard can it be?"

Me:  "True."

So I suppose I may not retire RIGHT this minute, but you never know... :)  It really is that simple though, happens every day.  That's what I love about kids.  The innocence and the optimism.  Too bad so many people get jaded so early in life, it shouldn't be that way.  I suppose it has a LOT to do with people being told:  "You can't do that."; "That isn't possible."; "That will never work."; etc for most of their lives.  Which is why I always tell my kids, "You can do whatever you want, anything is possible and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."  More people should do that...

Anyway, not much going on here other than life...  I'll just be glad when winter is over, it nearly is, but we are supposed to be getting some of that ice and snow here in the next few days...  Won't be long though and I'll be firing up the pool heater and getting ready for Spring!  Have I mentioned that I LOVE Spring??

No, I still have no photos to post, not sure why I don't take many pictures this time of year, probably because I'm too freaking cold all the time!  :)  Friday is the Valentine's dance at the kids school though, so perhaps I'll take some then.  Who knows, I may even get that new camera for my birthday, which may motivate me to take more photos!  We'll soon see on that one... :)