Plumbing Experience

A couple weeks back, I decided to fix the leak in our kitchen faucet. After testing the existing parts as being the culprit for the leak, we found that they were not the problem. The hot water side was the side that dripped, so we had to always keep the water turned off under the sink. It was a pain every time I wanted to run the dishwasher because I had to reach under the sink and turn the hot water valve on, which is getting more and more uncomfortable as my pregnancy progresses. I finally decided that I would just replace the whole faucet. I thought, "How hard can it be?" ! It wasn't hard to do, but when you get the wrong parts, then misplace a part, then buy that part, then find the original part....it got to be a little frustrating! Not to mention trying to fit under the sink, inside the cabinet, to unhook pipes and then re-attach them, without a good angle to get at them!.....The story is this. I purchased the new faucet and finally wrestled the old one out to find that the whole faucet was made of plastic, including the part you attach the water pipe to. That would explain why it was leaking. It was a piece of crap! Anyway, I got the new one put in place without too many difficulties, had everything hooked up and turned on the water. No more dripping!! I was so happy.......until I looked underneath and saw water leaking out of the connection(compression) joint! As you will find out if you do some reading, compression joints are a one time deal! If they fail, you have to replace them, so I ran the 15 miles to Lowe's to get a replacement compression joint. If I had been smart, I would have brought the "failed" part with me. I didn't. I ended up with the wrong part. So the next time I went in to Lowe's I took the compression joint, the adapter that it was attached to and the copper water pipe. I figured that way I could not lose it! It was about 18" long. WRONG! I get home with my new parts, which now consist of flexible hose instead of the copper pipe, which eliminates the compression joint dilemna. But the part that I really needed to keep track of was the adapter piece that everything connected to, and I managed to misplace it! I looked in the car, on the ground, in the house and even had the store look for it! To no avail. So I drove the 15 miles to Lowe's (because I was determined to finish this!) and picked up a new adapter piece. Of course, that is when I find the original piece! So back to the store to return the new part. It was a long and drawn out process that, in the end, with all the right parts, only took me 20 minutes to complete! I really like the new flexible hose instead of the copper pipe and thought maybe I would replace the cold water side, but decided that I am not going to fix something that isn't broken! Not after my experience! I will be staying away from any plumbing renovations for a while!

Dog Run Update

This is the original height that Louis built the Dog run. Bronx just sailed right over without any effort.

This is what the Carriage House looks like now. Hopefully Louis (& friends) can get it all down this Spring. I would like to start preparing the ground for a future garden and transfer the bushes in front of the house to the back yard as a barrier between us and the school parking lot.

The Dog Run is finally complete!! Louis had to keep building it higher to keep Bronx in. All the materials used to build the dog run are from the carriage house you see in the top photo. I plan to plant flowers that like to climb to cover most of the walls. If you know of any plants that would be good for this, and aren't totally invasive, let me know! It will be interesting to see how it all looks in a couple years! The first photo is the start of the shelter within the Run for Bronx to keep warm in this winter. (If/when it turns cold!) It will be raised off the ground and "insulated" with sheetrock, carpet and blankets...If Bronx would ever leave the blankets alone!

Long Awaited Pregnancy Photos!

I finally got around to having some pics taken. Caisha did the honors one morning when I had an audition in Des Moines. (Which I got!)I am about 24 weeks along.

God answers prayers

Patience does have its rewards! That is one thing that I have to work on daily when I pray for or about something. I must remind myself that it is in God's time, not mine that my prayers will be answered. Of course, sometimes the answer is also, No. The reason for this blog is that one of our prayers was answered this past weekend! As most of you know, Caisha is taking piano lessons. In order for her to practice at home her teacher lent her a small electronic keyboard....nothing fancy, but effective. Caisha is now getting into moving her hand positions up and down the keys and having to play loud and soft. Both these things are not possible on the little keyboard. She has been praying every night for a piano for the last 6 months. I, too, prayed about this because I was not sure how we would ever afford a piano, even a used one! On Friday Louis came home from work and told me that he got us a piano! A co-worker of his had a piano that she REALLY wanted out of her house. She was giving it away free to anyone willing to pick it up and move it out of her house! Louis jumped on that opportunity right away and told her he could have it out of her house the next day! He spent part of his evening at work, talking to his friends and calling them to see if they would be available the next day to help move a piano. We also had one volunteer their horse trailer to transport the piano in!! All in all he got 7 guys to move the piano and haul it from Ames to Boone! We were blessed with warm, sunny, dry weather and a great group of friends! Saturday morning they all delivered it to our house! It is beautiful! I would guess that it is made of cherry wood and pretty old; at least 75+ years old. It is an upright and is a perfect fit for our house! I could not have asked for a more beautiful piece of furniture. It is exactly the type of piano I wanted! Caisha has played on it every day, multiple times. I have played a bit myself and have surprised myself at how quickly it all comes back to me! God does work miracles every day and this one was a big one for us! It strengthens my faith and hope that God does want to give me the things I want and need. I just have to be patient and trust in Him! Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

General Updates

Well, the dog run is still not able to keep Bronx in! Louis said he thinks he came up with a way to keep him in....which will be good since the weather has now turned pretty cold! Bronx would be much warmer in the snug little shelter that Louis built in the dog run. Right now he is tied to the corner of our garage and has to make due with an open, collapsable kennel on the garage floor. I did weave a few blankets through the slats, but Bronx tends to tear pretty much everything apart! Hopefully he will leave it alone long enough that he will still beable to snuggle into the blankets at night....at least until Louis gets the dog run secure. Louis said he will probably work on it today.
Caisha did very well at her recital! She said she was shaking the whole time, but I didn't notice at all. Unfortunately Great Grandma Chloe took a small tumble earlier in the day, so she was unable to make it. She is doing fine. Caisha has now volunteered to play a couple songs at her Sunday School Christmas Program. She just got 2 songs from her teacher, Miss Bohnker. She's not sure she will be ready in time with both songs, so she is leaning towards playing "Away in the Manger" and a song out of her lesson book, "Chime of the Bells", that she already knows. She will also be reading a few lines to introduce the songs that their choir will be singing. Zach also has a few lines in the Christmas program and he is suppose to have his memorized! Their Christmas Program is on the 17th.
For Thanksgiving we headed up to Milford, IA and spent a few days with the kids' Grandpa & Grandma Johnson. We had such beautiful weather! The kids spent a lot of time outside! It was an even better weekend because we had Nala with us. The kids were all a big help to Grandpa and Grandma. The plan is that we will have Nala the next 3 weekends before Christmas. Unfortunately we do not get her for Christmas.
Both Caisha and Zach are doing great in school. Their teachers are proud of them and had very nice things to say about them. Every teacher that Caisha has had says that she always has a smile on her face and is the motivating force in the class. She is always the first to volunteer to help out (teacher and classmates). Caisha is positive that she wants to be a teacher when she grows up and is already loosely planning her future around that. Zach is your typical boy, as he says that he wants to be a professional Football player! But, if he can't do that, he says he would like to be a football coach for a professional football team. He said he would start out coaching the ISU Cyclones football team....to get some experience first...then he would move onto a professional team! I don't ever remember putting that much thought into the things I wanted to be when I was younger! I still had no idea half way through my senior year in high school! Zach is devouring books! Ever since he got a book from his Godmother, Colette, he can't read enough! Thanks Colette!! He is improving on a daily basis. Last year he was struggling a bit with reading and was getting some extra help at school, but he did so well last year that he didn't qualify for the help this year! *yeah* He is still considered "low risk" in comparision to most of his grade, but he is slowly closing the gap and should be right on target, or even slightly above, by the end of the school year.
Christmas is just around the corner! We started putting up the Christmas tree last weekend but never finished it, so that is on our agenda this weekend, along with putting plastic on some more of our windows, and hopefully, finishing up the drapes for the living room! I managed to get one drape done and hung before Thanksgiving and it looks fabulous! Only 3 more to go! Then onto making the curtains for the girls room! When they are all done I will post a few pictures.
If I don't get another post up before Christmas, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Remember that Christ is the reason for the season!

Second Baby Ultrasound

On Monday we had our second ultrasound to check the babies heart. We had to go down to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines this time. I took the whole day off work since the appointment was at 1pm. Louis took off the first half of his shift, so he didn't have to be at work until 7pm. The ultasound went real well. We had a Sr. med student do the initial check and she couldn't stop saying what a beautiful baby we have! And so well behaved! She said it was a great way to start her afternoon! If you chose not to read the previous blog about the sex of the baby I will not give it away here. I am right at 18 weeks and the baby weighs 8 oz. and is 8 inches long! The babies legs are definately longer than they were a month ago at that ultrasound and it knows how to kick with them!! *smile* The babies favorite position seems to be with its head down in my pelvis and I can tell when it is there! During the ultrasound the baby was all stretched out and still had lots of room to grow into. Louis thought the coolest part was when we got to watch the baby swallow....seeing its tongue move and the opening and closing of the mouth.....it was kind of cool. During most of the ultrasound, the baby had the hiccups. I'm not looking forward to those when it gets bigger! Whenever Zach had the hiccups it made me naseaus! Caisha is very anxious for the baby to be born. It would have been cool for her to see the ultrasound. We do have a book that shows the baby at the different months in pregnancy, so she has a pretty good idea what it looks like. Zach doesn't talk much about the baby. I think he is still absorbing the information and seeing how things go once it is born.
On a different note, Caisha has a piano recital tonight. She will be playing two songs from heart and singing "Over the Rainbow" with her teacher accompaning. Great Grandma and Grandpa will be there, so she is super excited!

Dog Run Progress

Well, Louis thought he had the dog run all finished over 2 weeks ago when his dad, Jack, came down to help. It looks a lot better than I had thought it would (which is good!), but it didn't keep Bronx (the dog) in!! He jumped right over it! Of course, they had only built it about 5 feet tall, so it was a breeze for Bronx. Since then Louis came up with a way to increase the height to around 8 feet tall. He worked on it on his three days off and thought again, that he had it finished. Well, this time, it did keep Bronx in for a while, but he did eventually find a way to jump out! Louis hadn't quite finished raising the height above Bronx's shelter and had temporarily put a few boards on top that maybe came to about 7 feet. I figure that is where Bronx is jumping over. We are finding that Bronx is VERY athletic!! I don't have any pictures developed just yet, but when I do I will be posting them and explaining the different stages of building. Hopefully this last effort at "securing" the dog run will work, which will be around the 7th & 8th of this month (Louis' next days off). I will keep you posted!

Baby Update! (If you want to be surprised on the sex of the baby, DO NOT read this!)

Things got a little busy at work the last 2 weeks, so I haven't had the chance to post anything lately. Here is the latest news concerning the baby!
On Tuesday I had a Dr.'s appt. where I had an ultrasound done. The main purpose of this ultrasound was to check the lining of my cervical opening to make sure it had not thinned due to a procedure I had done 8 years ago. Dr. Lines is treating me like I am over the age of 35 since I am so close to that number. She wants to make sure everything will go smoothly for me. Anyway....since we were doing an ultrasound on my cervix they also checked the size and development of the baby to reconfirm my due date. They originally had said my due date was April 16, but have now pushed it up to the 13th. I figure I will have the baby on Tom's(Louis' younger brother) birthday, which I believe is the 9th. I seem to be good at that, being that Caisha shares her dad's birthday and Zach shares mine! The nurse technician said everything looked great with the baby and that it weighs around 5 ounces. She asked if I wanted to know the sex of the baby and since I have already known (mother's instinct) and Louis wants to know so he can tell Nala so she has time to digest the info, I told her sure. My "feeling" was confirmed, so I am now 3 for 3 on knowing the sex of my babies based on my instincts. Here is where you will want to stop reading if you do not want to know until the baby is born! Louis had always thought he would only ever have girls, but he put in his "order" shortly after I found out I was pregnant, for a boy. I am happy to say that once again I deliver! The nurse technician was pretty positive that it is a boy! I got a few ultrasound picture, which the kids thought were great! And Caisha took one to school today to announce to her class that she is getting a little brother soon!
I do have another ultrasound on November 13th to check the baby's heart development since both sides of our families have histories of heart problems, including Nala (very minor). At that time they will be able to get a better picture of the baby and since he will be older they should be able to confirm the sex at that time, also. Louis will be going with me to the one on Nov. 13th. He would have gone to the one on Tuesday, but I didn't realize they were going to do an ultrasound of the baby, too.
I haven't gotten any pictures taken yet since I really haven't started to show until now. As soon as I get some I will be posting them.

Idiocysm

Just heard this on the radio and found it humorous, if not somewhat true.

"Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than living in your garage would make you a car!"

First Baby Appointment

This morning Louis and I went in for our first baby appointment! Everything went real well and we got to hear the babies HEARTBEAT! Everything seems more "real" now. Initially, I seemed to have gained a bit of weight, but I have leveled off. I think my body just got excited about being pregnant again and just remembered from 8 and 10 years ago what it is suppose to do. I've probably gained about 4-6 pounds and I am 11 weeks along. Dr. Lines says that my uterus is the perfect size for how far along I am, which made me feel better. I was a little concerned at how quickly I started to show that maybe I was carring twins, but it doesn't seem to be the case. *Phew* As we were listening to the heartbeat, the baby was moving around, too! It was so cool! I can't physically feel the baby move yet, so it was neat to hear it move around. I will be going in for an ultrasound the end of November to check the babies heart as our families have histories of heart problems. I am sure that Louis will ask to know what the babies sex is at that time. I am still unsure that I want to know ahead of time. I kind of like the suprise! Although, it would be cool to see if I am right about my hunch that it is a boy, along with one of Louis' co-workers who is right about these things 90% of the time. We are both soooo excited!

Just a few more Pictures

Zach with Grandma Lynne showing in the "Get of Sire" Class (I think. Could be "Get of Dam")
Caisha showing "Angel" with her brother, the yearling bull, in the "Get of Dam" class (I think that is the right class) Anyway, the calf and the bull are sister and brother.

More Fair Pictures

Out for the Herd Class
Jack setting up the Yearling Bull for pictures. Isn't he nice! Just needs horns.
Caisha showing with Great Uncle Tom, Grandpa & Uncle Tom. This is definately a family affair! I believe it all started with Caisha's Great Great Grandpa E.O. Johnson
Winning Premier Exhibitor and Premier Breeder Awards. Would you believe some of these animals family lines date all the way back to the late 1800's!

Clay County Fair Pictures

Caisha with her calf "Angel"
Zach entering the showring all by himself. I was so proud of him!
Zach and his calf are getting better acquainted.

Zach's keeping his eye on the judge.

Clay County Fair

This weekend was so great! It was show weekend at the Clay County Fair for the Johnson Hereford Farm and we had a blast! Both Caisha and Zach showed a heifer calf and were 2,3 in the line-up(respectively)! Caisha was so pleased because she had picked out that calf herself. She is looking forward to next year already and is planning on showing that calf as a yearling. This calf will be considerably bigger, not to mention stronger, by next year so we will have to see how things turn out. She also wants to show another calf, so she will be showing 2 animals next year. Grandpa and Grandma even mentioned that maybe she can show this heifer at the Iowa State Fair next year. Maybe I can get her in to show at the Boone County Fair, also. That's if they even have a class for Hereford's in Boone! I think I need to get the kids signed up for 4-H now that we are planning to stay put for awhile. I think Caisha and Zach would enjoy the different projects they can do. I was in 4-H for 11 years and loved it! It was hard work at times, but well worth it. If Grandpa is willing to haul a few animals down this direction for the kids to show that would be great!
Zach did real well showing on Saturday. He started out leading his calf all by himself, without any adult walking near him. I was so proud of him!! His calf did start to get a little pushy later so Grandma hopped in to help him. It's been a great experience for both the kids. Caisha is really showing a propesity for picking the winners. Grandpa says she will have to help pick out the calves for next years show! She picked such a winner this year that Grandpa almost ended up selling her to a buyer! Caisha told Grandpa emphamatically "NO, You can't!!" I think he is going to hang onto this heifer.
My mom was able to make it down for the fair, also. It was nice to have her be a part of the showing process. She pitched right in and was washing and brushing animals on show day. I know Jack and Lynne both really appreciated her help! We also found out that my mom, who is really a Dairy person, knows how to pick the Herefords, too! It was fun to spend time with her. I hope that next year she can convince my dad to come down with her. The Clay County Fair is known for its agriculture and farm machinery, which is something that my dad loves and the MN State Fair no longer really offers. I know we would loose him all day as he wandered through all the machinery! Zach would love to hang out with Grandpa Diers on that day!
On Sunday the kids and I walked around and looked through all the other projects and buildings at the Fair. Both kids got new belts with their names engraved on the back.....just like Grandma Lynne (and their dad had when he was little)!They both wore them to school today. I think it is the first time I have seen Caisha tuck in her shirts!
It did rain both Saturday and Sunday night. Saturday they had to sandbag in front of the barn because the water was creating a river down the center of the barn! I was driving in that downpour and could barely see a thing! It was a good thing I knew the road as well as I did!
I hope to never miss a Clay County Fair as long as I am able to get there! It's always a great time and the kids really learn a lot from their Grandparents that weekend about showmanship and sportsmanship. All the exhibitors that showed Herefords this weekend got together and provided potluck lunches and suppers so we didn't have to spend a fortune on fair food. It was a great idea and I hope they make it a tradition. It just shows the kids that even though we are competitors we are also friends and neighbors!
Look for pictures in the near future!
Oh, by the way....I felt GREAT all weekend! I really didn't have morning sickness at all. It was awesome. I know that being outside and being active really makes a difference. It just makes it even harder to go to work, though. But I will take the sick-free days where ever I can get them!

Morning Sickness

Well, morning sickness has settled in and it just got a little worse this morning! For the past 3 weeks I have been just naseaus and as long as I was munching on something all day, I could make it through the day. I usually started to feel better around 2pm. This morning, on the other hand, I got to work and I didn't even have time to turn on my computer before I had to run to the bathroom! Yesterday morning I almost didn't make it to work and had to stop at the park next to the kids schools just in case I did throw-up. I never did, but I had the "taste" in my mouth for a little bit and then that passed. There was no door-to-door service for the kids yesterday. I thought I was doing ok this morning, but it snuck up on me real quick! I thought I would do the same as yesterday and the feeling would pass, but no such luck today! I had called my doctor and her nurse told me to try taking Vitamin B6 three times a day at 10mg a dose. I couldn't find anyplace that sells B6 in 10mg doses. You can get it in 50mg, 100mg, and 200mg. I looked online and the dieticians sites say not to exceed 100mg a day. In Europe they only recommend up to 25mg a day! I guess I need to do a litttle research on where I can get 10mg dosage pills. I'd really hate to have to miss work because of morning sickness, especially since I just started back full-time the 1st of August! I also really need the paycheck! If any one has any suggestions on how to combat morning sickness I would appreciate your input!

Weekend at the farm

This past weekend Louis and I went up to see his parents in Milford and to pick up the kids, who have been staying with Grandma & Grandpa. On Sunday afternoon we had some great "family" time with Grandpa Jack & Grandma Lynne. For those of you who do not know, Jack is a veterinarian and a beef farmer. They raise Hereford cattle. Since Louis and I were visiting they figured it would be a good time to "work" cattle. What that means is that we catch all the cows and calves (& some bulls) to give them their vaccinations and take blood samples. It's a lot of work to run over 75-100 cattle through the barn. Jack, of course has the hardest part of the job, giving the shots and taking the blood samples, which are taken from the underside of the cows tail. You wouldn't believe how strong those tails are when they don't want them lifted up! I would say it took us about 4 hours total to round up the cattle from the pasture and bring them up to the barn and then run them through individually and then put them back out to pasture. Caisha was great help! She was in charge of writing the cattle's number on the blood vials and handing them to me so I could insert the blood from the syringe that Jack had just filled up. Lynne ran the head gate (an apparatus that catches the cattle's head so they can't back up or go forward), and Louis seperated out the cows and calves and brought them into the barn. We had a pretty good system going and things went fairly smoothly. Funny as it sounds, it was a great afternoon!

News!

Ok, here is the news that I have been hoping to share with everybody! I am pregnant!! I think I am about 6 weeks along. I started having morning sickness the day after I got back from my pageant. At first I thought I was feeling that way because I was still trying to catch up on my sleep from that weekend, but it hasn't gotten any better over the course of the week. I do have to say that I am thankful it is only in the morning and it is only naseua. I haven't thrown-up like I did when I was pregnant with Caisha. I just have to make sure I eat something right away in the morning and then munch on stuff the rest of the morning. I have found, also, that if I am too cold I feel worse. Not a good situation at work since the A/C vent is right above me! I wear a coat and long pants everyday now! My first doctors appointment is September 11 at 9am. This is where they take blood samples and check all your vitals. It's my least favorite doctors visit. My first official visit with my doctor will be September 27 at 10am.

National Beauties of America Pageant

What a great pageant system! This was my 4th year attending the National Beauties of America Pageant (BOA) and every year I have such a great time! Granted, this year it was a lot less stressful, being that I was passing on the crown instead of vying for it. I was so proud of all the ladies in my division (30's) and wanted all of them to win!! Usually I have an idea who will capture the crown, but this year I could not decide! I felt like all the ladies were "my girls". I was kind of protective of them and wanted to help every one of them to do their best! I was a mother hen, in a way. So many of the contestants this year were doing a pageant for the first time. I can say that this is one of the best pageants to try if you are a first timer! Because we don't compete against everybody there, it allows for some closer friendships all weekend. There is such great support from all the other contestants and you can learn tricks and techniques from all different ages......and feel free to share them since they aren't your direct competition! I love it!
My weekend started on Wednesday night when I headed up to my friend, Monica's, in Minneapolis so I could catch my 6:30am flight out of the cities. Of course, we ended up staying up until 2am talking! Then woke up at 4am to get ready to head to the airport. I was VERY tired! Lucky for me, I did not have to stand in line anywhere and made it through the airport in about a half hour, so I had a little time to kill before I boarded my plane. I always bring a book just in case. I thought I might beable to catch a few winks on the plane, but first of all the plane was a smaller one with only 2 seats on each side of the aisle....second, the largest man on the plane had the seat next to me. I was tempted to ask him for partial payment on my airfare since he was taking up almost half of my seat! I was a little upset......I had paid good money for my seat and I should beable to use the entire thing!! I didn't get any real sleep. I had a connecting flight in North Carolina that turned out to be a bigger plane and the seat next to me was empty, so I thought "Wonderful! I can get some shut eye!" It didn't turn out that way. Some one or some people right around me had been drinking A LOT and you could just smell it on them and they had smoked a cigarette right before boarding the plane! So I had the combined smell of stale alcohol and smoke floating around me the entire flight! Most of my family knows I am allergic to cigarette smoke, so I ended up with a headache and itchy eyes. Not very conducive to sleeping! I finally landed in Myrtle Beach and was relieved to find out that there was a shuttle service to the hotel. Of course, it didn't show up for over a half hour after I called for them. I wasn't the only pageant girl waiting for this shuttle. It turns out that one of the ladies from my division had been on the plane with me! It was Penny Genovese from New York! It was great to talk with her and her family on the ride to the hotel. Once at the hotel, I checked into my room and quickly changed clothes, ran a brush through my hair, washed my face and put on a little make-up before dashing down to orientation. Orientation went well and in the time alloted, which only gave me about an hour and half to get ready for our night at "The Hard Rock Cafe". We were suppose to dress up with a rock and roll feel. It was fun. At this point I am starving and extremely tired! Adreniline was the only thing keeping me going! The salad that I had ordered did not fill me up, but luckily one of the other girls couldn't finish her sandwich so she kindly shared it with me! I finally got to bed around midnight that night and was up at 7:30am the next morning. It was TOOO early! Then we had rehearsal in the morning and interviews in the afternoon. Friday evening we had a beach party dinner. It was great to see all the outfits that the ladies came in! That night I got to bed around 11:30p and was up at 7:30am again the next morning (Saturday). This was the big day! We had rehearsal all day since the final competition was that evening at 7pm. It came all too quickly! It was a great production and things ran fairly smooth. It was a great first-time show for Jen! Melissa(America's 40's 2005) and I plan to come back next year and help out again! I can't wait! My flight out of Myrtle Beach was delayed an hour and half. I was very glad I had a 5 hour lay over in Atlanta! On the trip from Atlanta to Minneapolis I witnessed one of the best mothers I have ever seen dealing with the late hour(after midnight) with two small children, probably around the ages of 2 years and 5 years, and the uncertaintly of getting on my flight. She had so much patience and such a great repore with her kids! I know in her situation I would have been short tempered and all out of fun ideas to entertain the kids. I had to admire her and when we landed in Minneapolis I had to let her know what a wonderful mom I thought she was! It was great way to end my great weekend! By the way, it was 2am Monday morning when my plane touched down and I didn't get much sleep on the planes, again. I crashed at Monica's that morning and slept till around noon, then I met her for lunch and had to head home to Boone, IA. I'm not sure I have recovered yet from the lack of sleep! But, after a pageant, that is not uncommon for me!

Branson, MO

It's been awhile since I've had the chance to update my site! Things picked up at work and I had a few events going on that took me away from the computer. Anyway, August 10-12 I was in Branson, MO with Louis, the kids and Jack & Lynne. It was a lot of fun! The kids, Louis and Lynne headed down to Branson on the 7th, so they got a whole week there! I drove down Wednesday night with Jack. It was great to spend that much time with my father-in-law. I think it is the longest we have been together at one time! I learned a lot about him and found that Louis is a lot like his dad....especially on how their thought processes work! Branson was a great time! I wasn't there long enough, though! There was so much more that I wanted to see. We went to Silver Dollar City and the kids really enjoyed the water rides and park.... so did Grandpa Jack and Louis! It brought out the kid in both of them! All 3 kids and Grandpa and Louis were soaked through on the second day we were there! I know the kids really enjoyed that time with their Grandpa Jack! While the men (loosely used in this instance) and kids had water fights, Lynne and I purused the shops. We purchased some items, but mostly browsed. I don't think we even saw 1/4 of the shops that were there! The second day we were there we had the old fashioned tin-type picture taken. They turned out great! Zach, of course, had to be a Union soldier and Grandpa and Louis followed suit. They were very dashing! All of us girls wore beautiful gowns. The picture is set up to look like the parlor of a colonial house, which seemed appropriate since the house we own is from that era. The girls (Nala and Caisha) were very excited about wearing the beautiful dresses! I have the picture of our family hanging in my living room now. Grandma Lynne and Grandpa Jack got one of all of us together and one with just the grandkids. They all turned out beautiful! The third day we went to Silver Dollar City, we took the Marvel Cave tour. Zach and Grandma opted to walk around the park instead. The cave was amazing! And the history is very interesting. Louis and I would like to go back and do the lantern tour of the cave which lasts over 2 hours! At the end of the afternoon, Grandma, Grandpa and the kids all headed to Arkansas to see some friends and drop Zach off with his dad, then they headed back home on Sunday. Louis and I headed back home on Saturday afternoon so we could relax a little bit before he had to work Sunday afternoon. All in all it was a great time....drive time and all!!

First Wiring Experience!

I am so proud of myself! Last evening I installed a new chandelier in my entryway. I was a little concerned that I would not be able to do it once I took the old light down. There was no electrical box that housed the wires, just a hole in the ceiling with two (fabric encased) wires poking through and there really wasn't anything to anchor the new light too! I knew the electrical wiring was a little old in the house, but I was not expecting it to be quite this old! There was no way to tell which was the live wire and which was the neutral. I stripped off some of the "fabric casing" to expose the wires and almost gave up at that point.(Yes, I turned off the power in the house first!) Then I remembered that Nathan (my brother) had done a lot of updating in his house, so he might know a thing or two about wiring in a new fixture. I called him up and lucky for me he was home AND he knew what to do! He recommended that I go out and buy a wire tester. We both figured I would probably need it again anyway! With my handy, dandy, new fangaled wire tester (which was a lot smaller than I expected) I figured out which wire was hot and which was neautral. Once I did that I turned off the power to the house again so I could go about installing my new light! Well, the next obstacle was trying to figure out how to attach the mounting bar to the ceiling without pulling down all the plaster! I carefully made the existing hole bigger, trying to expose some wood lathe or joists. I did manage to find some wood to attach one end of the mounting bar to and took a chance at drilling a hole in the plaster for the other end to attach to.....and lucky for me, I hit something solid for the second hole, also! Once I had the wires all strung through the chain on the chandelier I tried to attach the light to the mounting bar and realized that I had to run the wires through the small tube on the mounting bar, also. So, I had to unscrew the mounting bar from the ceiling and feed the wires through and then re-attach the bar. I matched up my hot and neutral wires, capped and taped them and then tucked them up into the hole as much as possible, put the dome over the hole and wires and tightened the whole unit together. Now the real test was upon me! I turned the power back on, put new bulbs in the fixture and flipped the switch! And..........it WORKS beautifully!! The lighting is so much brighter than the old fixture. I can actually see the ceiling and all the corners now! It is wonderful! I am so excited. And I am ready to tackle some more of these "do-it-yourself" projects! Maybe I will tackle some plumbing issues next! Afterwards, I went on a nice long bike ride, played with Bronx (our puppy), then curled up on the couch with Badger and Simba (our cats) and watched a little TV before bed. Of course, the new light was happily blazing in the background!! :)