Monday, June 30, 2008

The Start Of The Week

Where to begin for today, well we spent the weekend a Mikie's parents house. We had alot of fun there kinda like a mini vacation really. We all went yard sailing Saturday morning. We found some good buys. We made a really good super Saturday night with some fresh squash. On Sunday we went to Walmart to have the pictures made of the kids. Did you know they don't have the sets for 5.99 anymore. The lowest package was 79.95. I went ahead and got the 99.95 package, there were like 14 pages you could get plus a 10x13. I opted out of the 10x13 and got 2 8x10's instead. The pics were really good, I will put them up on my picture blog when I get them back.
The a/c people are at my house right now working on the a/c. They called me and informed me since I was changing to a metal roof they needed to re-calculate to make sure the unit is large enough. Of course is was not and they have to get a bigger one that is 500 more. They hope to have it today. If not it will be Wednesday.
Tomorrow, Zack has an appointment at Vandy for his hypospadias. We are just looking and scheduling his appointment. After that we are going to the Science Museum. I think Christopher will love it, they just opened up a space section and he loves space.

At work this morning we found out that our boss's son passed away Saturday in a car wreck. He also works here. Last week he got his personalized lic plate and put it on his car that said destroy it. His car is totally unrecognizable. His girlfriend also died. Our boss also lost his brother last week. It has to be really hard on a family to go thru all of this, especially all at once. His name was Michael he was 24 yrs old. I didn't know him that well, but I did get to talk to him some but only about business. Please say a prayer for his family.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

A/C Update And More

It sure has been hot the last couple of days. huh. We should get our heat pump put in first of next week. He is coming out tomorrow to see if he can temporary fix it and to measure the house for the electric company. I will be so glad to be in my own house. It seems like all I do is work at my moms house. I guess cause there are so many to feed and then clean up after, plus washing clothes, bathing kids and picking the garden. One good thing about being at my moms, before Mikie would not touch squash. Now since we have fried squash every other day he loves it. He can't get enough of it. Fried zucchini is also good. Mikie's mom told us we could stay at her house but daycare is to far away. I told Mikie to tell her the real reason he wouldn't stay there, because she doesn't have any squash. haha.
It has been extremely busy at work this week. We have taken on another insurance company and it is lots of paperwork and looking at cars. Today I went to my grannies house at lunch and they called me to come back to work early because the guy over said insurance company wanted to let us know how we were doing. I got there he told me a couple of things about totaled out cars and then left. They say most body shops that pick up this insurance company do not do very good at first. He said we have done pretty good.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Boys Riding In Cars

This is Christopher giving Zack a ride in his car.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Kitchen Tile 101

This is the kitchen floor before we thought of redoing it. See Christopher waiting for cookies. This is after Mikie ripped up all of the linoleum. See all the junk he piled everywhere.

This is just starting the first row of tile. The tile in the middle is the center of both rooms. Several rows done now plus the laundry room. See the little crosses sticking up they are to space out the tile evenly. Who comes up with this stuff.
This is all the whole pieces down. Now we just have to make cuts around the edges.
This is the laundry room. Mikie grouted it the other day. We didn't realize the grout was the wrong color until we mixed the other grout today. It was suppose to be light grey. We decided to take it up. So not a fun job.
Christopher got in on the action. He helped take up the grout, vacuum, and sponge the grout.

Here I am taking up the grout. I left Mikie's pic out cause I don't think he would like it much.
This is a close up of the kitchen floor. Don't mind the dirt and grout spread about.
This is the breakfast area completed.
And down the kitchen. The light grey looks way better than the dark ever did.
This was a really big job. Thank goodness Mike has laid tile before. If he hadn't I do not think we would be done so quick.


Friday, June 20, 2008

The Cutest Pots Ever

I was coming back to work from lunch when I saw this guy. I had to turn around and take a picture. I thought this is so cute. Who thought of this guy?
Updates on Estimates for the a/c. I have talked to several people and have decided to go dual fuel. What's duel fuel? Dual fuel is where you have a standard electric heat pump but for the emergency heat you have a gas furnace. This is about a third cheaper than changing out the entire thing, plus it will not use up any more breakers in my electric box. I have checked with my power company and they said they will still finance it. I figure after we get it installed the bill can't be any higher than I am paying now for this crazy expensive electric a/c, even with the loan on the bill. O need to post before blogger takes there break. I have another post for later.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A/C Update & Garden Picks

Update on our a/c situation. We had a guy come out and look at it. The fan motor on the outside unit is toast. We was on his way to get another one for about 150.00 and Mikie called me and I stopped him. We were planing on replacing the whole unit anyways, why not do it now. This guy does not do installs so he gave us a name of someone, who has not returned my call. The guy did not charge anything, he said he did not fix the problem so he couldn't charge. I know everyone else would have easily charged 85.00 for just coming out to look. Our electric company will do a low interest loan for anyone putting in a new heat pump. I printed out there list of vender's and called most in my area. I was talking to one guy and he told me about a dual fuel heat pump, where I keep my existing gas furnace and take out our a/c unit and put in a heat pump outside. The gas furnace acts as the back up system. He said this is a 1/3 the cost of changing out everything. He also said he would temporally fix the motor until they can replace the unit. I am waiting on him to call me back with his price. I really think this is the smart way to go. We will spend less money. Mikie is concerned about the gas furnace being older. My dad and I argued that on a gas furnace there is not much to go bad and it usually last longer than electric parts.

We have started getting veggies out of the garden. We have gotten several cucumbers and a few squash. We have been staying at my moms house since we cannot cook anything or even use the microwave. She had started cooking the chicken and stewed potatoes last night when we got there. They had already picked the cucumbers and squash so I prepared them. I made cucumbers in salt water, cucumbers w/onions in vinegar, and cucumbers w/onions in Italian dressing. We also made fried corn that was frozen from last year. I fried the squash w/cornbread covering them. I fried them in canola oil. My mom said she prefers grease but I told her the canola was much better for her. Mikie even tried the squash and said it wasn't bad. He won't hardly eat anything out of the garden except the corn,green beans and peppers. It took forever for him to eat the fried corn. I'm not sure where city people think their food comes from.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happpy Fathers Day!

These are the pictures I took for the Father's Day Project. They didn't smile much for the pics. We took a lot and these were the best I thought. It was very muggy out and they were hot.

This is the finished product. Mikie really liked it.
For Father's Day Mike laid tile in a hot house. We have called a local a/c guy, he is coming out tomorrow to look at our unit. We have called him before and he only charged 40.00 to fill up the freon. He is really good at it. He use to work at Trane(they make air conditioners) in Clarksville. When I described it to him he said it may have been struck by lightening. If so our insurance should pay for it to be fixed. We want to replace it with a electric heat pump. Mikie is taking off of work tomorrow and finishing up the tile in the kitchen.
Happy father's Day to all the dads out there. Hopefully you didn't have to work as hard as Mikie did today.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Oh How Hot It Is

now, we were thinking about getting a low We have taken out our hot water heater and replaced some of the floor. Or rather I should say Mikie has. We live in a triple wide so the pipes are different than what you have in a normal house. He had to move some of the pipes and take out the water softener. He had the a/c off today because they were going in and out cutting an turing water on and off. When I got home tonight we brought in some tile and decided to shut the doors and turn on the a/c. We did some stuff for a little bit and it wasn't cooling off any. I checked the vent and it was blowing hot air. We were outside earlier and heard a hissing sound. I came in and went over to the computer to get on and still heard the hissing sound. I turned off the a/c and then back on and it tripped the breaker. The breaker popped out and Mikie pushed it back in and now its not tripping anymore. At this point it was blowing cool air. I went out to check on the hissing sound and it will make the hissing sound and then slowly go away but it comes back in about 2 or 3 minutes. I checked the vent again and it was blowing hot air again and I turned it off. We have gas a furnace. We are checking into getting a low interest loan for an electric heat pump. LP gas prices go along with car gas prices so it is not cheaper now to use gas to heat your house. Last year I spent 1700.00 just on LP gas to heat the house and use for the hot water heater. I really don't think I will spend that much on electricity just for heating and hot water. By the way the kids are at their Ma maws tonight, I'm so glad they don't have to be here when it is this hot.

Friday, June 13, 2008

A Childs Cry

I can tell y'all this because y'all do not know the person. I have a friend with a little girl, the girl is 4 yrs old, she was raped by a 14 or 16 yr old boy.(sorry can't remember his age) The state and DHS office is not going to do anything about it. The DA told her they will catch him when he rapes someone else. They will eventually go to court because she is pressing the issue, but they said it may take 2 yrs and when he turns 18 it will be wiped from his record. The boy in question is related to the little girl and has been to jail already for multiple various crimes. A lawyer told her that with those and the rape they should have what they need to put him away longer or maybe try him as an adult. I am telling this because the family does not have the money for a lawyer. The lawyer she talked to said for a flat 1500.00 they would take it all the way to supreme court if need be. We are having a benefit yard sale on the weekend of the 21st. If anyone would like to donate items please let me know so I can get those things to them for the yard sale. I know there are some people close to Dover, TN that read my blog, we are urging you to help.
I feel strongly about this because I know her and what if nothing is done to the boy. What if he is at Walmart at the same time as someone else and is in the bathroom and a small child walks in there to use the bathroom, there is nothing stopping him from raping again.
This will also be in the paper this week. We have such a small community that we share a paper with the next county over and it only comes out once a week. I will talk to her about getting it in the Leaf Chronicle also.
The state is also suppose to provide therapy for the rape victim. They have not begun this either for the little girl. I don't get that we have a national sex offender registry (I know someone on it that did not get convicted nor did they commit the crime they have listed on there) but someone under the age of 18 is free to do what ever the heck they want to do.

Notes On Mornings

At 6 months and the months leading up to it since he learned how to smile, Zack smiles every time I wake him up in the morning. Today for example he was already awake and when I went in the room he was smiling and playing with his feet.
I don't remember Christopher smiling as much when he first got up in the morning. He is definitely a cranky boy when he gets up now. I have to wake Christopher up at 5:30 and Zack gets up at 6:00. It usually takes Christopher 30 min. to get dressed then around 6:00 he is ready to brush his teeth. For Zack all I have to do is change his diaper and he is good to go.

Sorry bout all the notes to myself. This is just way more convenient for me to add to than a diary or journal that would be at my house and I would forget what I had to tell myself by the time I got home.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Check Up

Zack had his 6 month check up today. He weighted 17.15 lbs. He is 27 1/2 inches tall or long. He is right on where he should be. Christopher also went and got a shot. He was horrible right before the shot but when she did it he didn't mind. He put up a big fight for nothing. I think it surprised him that it didn't hurt so bad. Last time he got shots he had 6 at one time. They did both arms and both legs. Zack also received shots today, 3 in his legs and a liquid he had to drink. He doesn't do to bad on shots, but he doesn't know they are coming either.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Sitting And Spitting


The spitter can officially sit by himself. This toy he received for Christmas from my aunt Debbie. He just loves it. The bear on top spins and dances all he had to do it spin the orange and blue cylinder. Notice Christopher with chocolate on his face. He wanted me to make cookies last night so I did. Zack is still a big spitter even tho he is sitting up.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Test Results And Options

I went to the doc today to find out about my thyroid. I have the multiple nodules and he sent me to the ears, nose and throat(ENT) doctor for an appointment today. Went to the ENT doctor he recommended putting me on a low dose of medicine and watch in for at least 6 months. If it grows any they will do other things like take it out, kill it off, or biopsy it. I opt for the taking it out myself. But we will wait the 6 months and see. My mom's was chopped up and looked at, they have determined that it definitely was not cancer. So that is a plus.

T-ball At Its Best

Let me just dish about what happened yesterday, but first let me go back a bit. 3 games ago the coach did not show up to ummm.. coach. His wife was there but she just does the batting order. She asked if any of the parents could pitch for our kids. Mikie said he would. He did a pretty good job. The kids hit more with him pitching than with the coach pitching. The coach showed up when it was our last bat and we batted last. He took over when he got there.The next game the coach nor his wife was there and put the game in William's hands for him to do the coaching. The little boy who always hits last begged not to hit last and William and his wife agreed to let him hit in the middle. We will call this little boy D. D's dad did the pitching this game and he did a really good job. They only had to use the T 3 or 4 times the entire game. Now to yesterdays game. The coach and his wife were there to begin with. I'm not sure what her name is. Cheryl (mil) was sitting and talking to D's mom. I was not there yet. The coaches wife came over to talk to D's mom. She told them that she hear that Mikie could not get the ball over the plate but D's dad did a great job at pitching the last game. Cheryl pretty much went off on her. I don't get how she heard that he didn't get it over the plate since she was at the game. She also said that they were gonna have a BBQ at there house and give out trophies. After Cheryl went off on her she told D's mom you should have told me that was his mom. This is a small town everyone is pretty much kin to everyone, so she should have known better. This had Mikie really ticked off. The coaches wife does not seem like a nice person at all. She always has a mad look on her face and is usually yelling at the kids. Not long after the coaches wife made her spill they left the game. Again to leave the game in Williams hands. What gets me is at the first of the season he didn't ask any parent to help out but now the parents are doing it all and doesn't even bother to show up. If you have other things you have to do maybe you should not coach a team you do not have time for. Not sure how that got in the middle not I cant get it to go away sorry.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Crazy Week


I have been out of sorts this week. My kids have been at their Ma maw's and my mom had surgery. First off Christopher went to Cheryl's (ma maw) on Saturday after his t-ball game.(t-ball is almost over. wooooohooooo) Zack went on Monday morning on my way to work. I picked up Christopher on Tuesday for his game and he went back on Wednesday morning. My mom had her thyroid out on Wednesday. I took the day off of work and stayed at Vanderbilt with my aunt Debbie(she reads but never comments) and my dad almost all day. I have had test run to see about my thyroid. Turns out I have the same thing as my mom but mine is not wacky as of yet. We will monitor it and I go to the doctor next week to find out a game plan on it. We both have nodules on our thyroids. My mom was able to go on medicine for hers but she is so not a pill taker. She did try the pills but was allergic to them so she opted to have it out. She is doing really good. She came home Thursday morning and went to work a little. To me it sounds like her voice had changed just a little, maybe a bit higher.

About the kids going to ma maws they both cried last night going to bed. You know how grandmas are all lovey and stuff. Zack cried really bad when Mikie was holding him. I took him and cradled him and patted his butt like Cheryl does but he did not stop. He did lighten up some tho, he was really bad when Mikie had him. I just put him in bed stood beside him and rubbed his tummy until he quit crying and he rolled on his side where he could not see me and I left his room, never to hear a peep more out of him.

Work was crazy yesterday. It was so busy and the boss was not here. Today is a little more laid back so I get to poke around the Internet some and blog a little.

I am making something for Mikie for fathers day. I seen it on another blog, wait let me see if I can find it. Sorry I can not remember where I found it and I just looked Thur several and still cannot find it. Anyways I bought some wooden letters that spell out DAD. I also got a picture frame. I am painting the letters white. I am going to take the kids to a park and let them hold the letters and take pics of each one with the D's and A. The frame has places for 3 pictures. I am going to do one kid each with a D and both holding the A and put them in the frame. I will probably do black and white pictures. I had my friend's son tide dye some shirts dark blue so their shirts will be dark and match. I will take a picture of the finished product and post it.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Let's Talk About A Water Heater

Let me just tell you about the fun we had this weekend. I ordered a tank less hot water heater because ours is leaking. We have a propane hot water heater and we wanted to turn the space into a pantry. The water heater cost 1050.00 with tax. We went ahead and ordered it. It came in on Thursday, Mikie picked it up on Friday. When I got home that afternoon I began reading the manual. On the front in a box it says do not put in a manufactured home. Yes we have a triple wide mobile home that's not so mobile. It has a bricked foundation. So Saturday morning no one is up but Zack and I. I call the manufacture about the not not to put in a manufactured home, they said defiantly do not. We took it back to the hardware store and bought a regular propane hot water heater for about 375.00. They were out of stock. We dropped by my moms house to call around to see if Lowe's or Home Depot had any. We went to Home Depot first, they had one and it was 389.00. Lowe's said they have a few so we went over there. The stores are about a mile apart here. Turned out they did not have any. We went back to Home Depot. The guy had to get it off of the top shelf and he looked like he was scared of heights. We opened it up and sure enough it said that it could not be put in a manufactured home. So I call around for prices of water heaters that go into manufactured homes. Home depot was the cheapest, so I go over there on my lunch break, about 15 min drive. The guy had looked up the wrong one and it was gonna be around 655.00. Brigham's Hardware, where I bought the first one was 603.00. The owner is also the town Judge. So this afternoon when I called the owner is out until Wednesday. The guy I talked to was not sure about the combustion. I informed him I will do more research and find what I need and call him back. Doesn't it sound like fun.