The Project From Hell...

Yeah, I am trying to finish this thing that I started what, two years ago?? Not that I have been working on it ALL the time, I do go for months sometime where I don't touch it and of course take breaks from it to do things like: build a deck; tile my office; remodel the kitchen; watch movies; etc; etc...

I am back to ONLY working on it now though because I am nearly done with it!! When you are doing things like this, you know you are reaching the end when the drywall is going up and the tile for the floors and exterior bottom walls is nearby just waiting to be installed!

This is basically the mess I am working in right now! Drywall is incredibly messy!! Have I also mentioned how much I absolutely DETEST drywall??

I hang it, and the neighbor kid, Zac, is taping, mudding and sanding! So there is THAT to be thankful for. While he is doing that, and I get far enough ahead of him with the hanging part, I am finishing up the last bits of plumbing, doing final hookups, etc...

This is one of the reasons I DETEST drywall, it literally gets ALL over everything!! "Why don't you just cover all that up Matthew?", you might ask. Because while he is sanding, etc I am USING all that stuff!! :)

Shower room ready for Zac!

It is basically almost all the way done though, I've just got to turn the water on (which requires the final 10 feet in the garage to tap into the main water line) and make sure there are no leaks before I can finish all the drywall on the bottom where there is plumbing, but HOPEFULLY by Sunday evening, that will have happened and the drywall should be complete!!!

We'll see how well that works out... :) I did get the new satellite receiver, flat screen TV and phone for it as well, so that makes me want to get it done as quickly as possible as well!! I would like to be sitting up there with my laptop and have the ability to watch TV SOON!! Before winter sets in... Of course now that we have the heater working, we could feasibly be using it through December...

Happy Anniversary Baby!!!

13 Years Today!!!

Wow!!

I can't believe I haven't blogged in that long, I think that is a record... We were on vacation though, and I didn't blog then either... Facebook has taken over the blogging... I need to keep it up though, because my kids love to read my blog, and it makes for a good 'journal' of sorts. Anyway...

I finally finished the plumbing in the pool house, two years later than I would have liked to...

I ALSO have started hanging drywall!!! So we are nearly there!! Wow, I can't wait to get this done!!

So yeah, that's what's going on here, the kids start school week after next. I've had a tutor here for the past three weeks teaching Chance because the whole homeschool thing didn't quite work out. He'll be fine though, he's a smart boy. So yeah, that's about it. I'll try not to wait a month to blog again... :)

Lake Acworth (Allatoona)...

We decided to take a picnic to the lake today, not sure why we don't go more often, we used to before we got the pool though. There are many "beach" areas around Lake Allatoona and they have restrooms, beaches, picnic areas, playgrounds, marinas, etc... We went today though...

Taylor and Karen building a sand castle...

Why people feel the need to cover themselves in sand, I will never know... :)

Ditto...

Of course Tanner took the cake for letting them cover him up so much!! Wow! I could never do that!

We all had a good time though, and of course now everyone wants to go back... We might take them to a different area later next week... I would have taken more pictures, but my camera started messing up and would not work, sigh. At least it happened now so I have time to find a new one I like BEFORE we go on vacation week after next!!

More Fun...

The guys love their "machines"... So does Taylor though, at least the gokart anyway... It's a struggle for me to keep that gokart running. It's currently held together with metal straps and bolts...

The latest pet Chance has... Sigh... He loves it though, so whatever...

They chase each other around in their "vehicles" and have a great time, so it's all worth it... :)

Summer Fun...

My neighbor took Chance, Tanner and TJ to Whitewater the other day, they had a great time! Then they were going to go tubing up near Helen, GA, Chance decided he did not want to go, so Tanner and TJ went. Chance is kind of a homebody, like me... :)

Ride at Whitewater...

Ditto...

Tanner and TJ tubing near Helen, GA...

Dinner in Helen, GA...

Needless to say, they had a great time and are looking forward to vacation here in a few weeks... Of course we are still deciding what the destination will be: Destin, Panama City, Myrtle Beach, etc... The winner will be wherever we find the most reasonably priced condo... :)

Activities...

Yeah, I think I took about 15 pictures when Andy and Petra were here... Not sure why I didn't take more, I guess the camera is always on my desk and I don't feel like fetching it... :)

Anyway, they pretty much spent their time swimming, riding the dirt bike and "hunting"... The kids that is... :)

Hmmm...

Has it been another week already?? I suppose it has... Yeah, just have been trying to get some projects completed around here and visiting with family... For some reason, I've taken almost zero pictures?!?!? I need to work on that...

This is pretty much how the kids have been amusing themselves, swimming, riding the dirt bike and hunting squirrels...

Yesterday the kids were setting off fireworks most of the day, Petra and I each happened to have our cameras out on one of the rare occasions that we actually took pictures... :)

Matthew came over for about an hour yesterday, but then had a MUCH more exciting event to go to... :)

The kids finished grouting that flagstone for me as well, but I don't have an "after" picture... I ran out of flagstone, obviously, so I'll have to get another pallet of that and finish it sometime...

I have zero plans today, and plan on doing pretty much nothing... Hope everyone had a festive Fourth of July!!

Happy Birthday Chance!!

12 years old!

Yes, he DOES need another hamster cage! Sigh...

Tanner put that bow on Chance's "birthday puppy" and set the dog on the table, the dog promptly pissed on the table... :(

Sigh...

Yeah, wow! Has it been 10 days already?? I suppose it has, and I HAVE been busy actually, seems like I only work when it is 90 degrees or hotter outside, but I prefer it that way... :)

This is what I've been working on most recently... Yes, that is a LOT of concrete, 3200 lbs to be exact...

Of course before I had to haul all that concrete up, I had to haul a ton of gravel up first... I'm finally getting around to getting concrete down in these walkways and the stairs I'm putting by that side gate there... So I can put the flagstone down and get this OVER with!! :)

I managed to get the sides and that little walkway done, working on the stairs now. Ugh!

Of course this is how the kids amuse themselves while I'm toiling away... Which is how it should be, that's why we built the thing... :) It IS 92 degrees after all, and nothing like a swim in hot and humid weather in GA!

I'm really waiting on my hired help to get here, I have so many chores to do that I HATE doing, I'm making a list of the stuff I ABSOLUTELY don't want to do... :)

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Tanner's Trip...

Our neighbor took Tanner to Savannah last week for a few days, he had a great time, but I'm always glad when my kids get home!

Tanner and TJ. TJ is our neighbors grandkid, they "hang out" whenever he is over visiting with them.

In the condo. Yes, Tanner JUST got a hair cut a few days ago...

Surfing. No, I don't know why they have their shirts on. They had a good time though, glad he is home though!

Dwight Yoakam - In The Garden

In memory of my friends mother, I love this song...

Brianne and Molly...

Chance and Taylor have been BEGGING us to get them dogs for over a year now, we finally broke down and did it! Two female Cocker Spaniels. These two kids are SO happy you can't make it up!

They are cute!! Chance is reading the book I got them and he swears he is going to train his dog good... :)

They are little too! Bo was that little though when Tanner got him.

Speaking of Tanner, he gets back from Savannah today and I will be SO happy when he gets back!! I miss my kids when they are gone!!

Happy Birthday Cory!!

I can't believe he is 22, but he is! I suppose I'll be saying that about the rest of them in a few years though...

We didn't do much, had a cake and gave him what he wanted most, $$. :) We have three birthdays in June, and there are only six of us... Kind of funny...

School Is Out!!

Friday was the last day of school, and the kids were ecstatic!! Tanner especially, he HATES school!! I took a few pics...

Of course this one has nothing to do with this post, but thought I'd share anyway. Taylor even will hold the snake, although that look kind of seems like: "Hurry up and take the picture so I can give this thing back to Chance!"

Tanner getting one of his awards, he did NOT get a perfect attendance award! :)

Tanner and Mr. Johnson, I really am glad he had a good teacher this year, his teacher was GREAT!

Taylor's class party for the end of the year...

Taylor again, obviously. They were both ready to be signed out as soon as the parties were over. I did not get a picture of Taylor and her teacher for some reason... Oh well...

Funny...

Or in other words: "Somebody's got to cook the french fries."

The New Additions...

So yeah, Chance "discovered" the message board at the pet store, and wow! Here are the latest additions:

Chance with his 'new' ball python...

Chance with the python and the bearded dragon...

Tanner was a little iffy about holding the snake, but he doesn't mind holding the lizard...

Chance is the HAPPIEST boy in the world!!! He is SO stoked you really can't make it up, of course he DID just get about a thousand dollars worth of equipment and animals for absolutely nothing!

So yeah, I didn't take pictures of the aquatic turtle, it is in his room, but he loves it too, just went and picked it up, along with a tank, tank stand, light, etc for nothing as well... I DO know that my 'pet food' bill just went up, but whatever, Chance is so freaking happy what do you do?? Yeah, exactly... :)

Edit: Chance was NOT happy his turtle wasn't on here, yeah, they all read my blog, and they have been getting irritated lately because I haven't been posting... :)

Chance with his turtle that we picked up on Sunday...

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...

So I've been slacking on blogging lately, what excuse do I have? Well, I don't... :)

This is about what has been going on around here, swimming...

Tonya and Billy dropped Kristen, Hunter and Karen off Friday while they headed to New Orleans for the weekend, and really about all we did was go to the movies and swim... I'm just glad it wasn't raining this weekend!! Of course now that it ISN'T raining, I have about a gazillion things to get busy on out back, so perhaps I'll get started on that now... :)