Flagstone Walkway

I've been cutting stone and fitting it in for three days now, and I'm almost 1/3 of the way finished. At this pace, in another week I'll be done fitting stone. Then I can start putting in the grout sand and whatever else I decide to do to this walkway. I think it looks pretty good so far. I'll let you know my opinion when it gets closer to being completed. It's always a surprise when you work on something for a while, and then one day it dawns on you, "Hey this looks right, I've done a good job. Almost professional." I like that feeling. I'm almost getting that feeling looking at the pictures, but I'll know for sure in about six days.

Dia de las Madres... and Sand

So we had a great time on Mothers' Day. The family came over and we had fried chicken and the fixin's. Everyone was happy to either be a mother or have one... most everyone. There were at least two in the group who were celebra... spending Mothers' Day without a mother.


Oma, C, Douglas, Kaitlyn, Keith and Opa on Mothers' Day


Other side of the room: Tim, Opa, Leah, Larry and Cheri at the house


Oma and Cheri at the Mothers' Day banquet at their church

This afternoon I picked up my first load of sand. It went a little farther than I thought it would. I originally planned on three loads, but it looks like I'll only need one more. Tomorrow I'll get another load and order the flagstone for delivery. This is what the walkway looks like with the first load of sand put in. It is starting to look like an actual walkway.


The last time I went to the dirt store I got a piece of the flagstone I'll be using. This is what it looks like. It's sort of a brown with a little gray. It's more brown than it looks in the picture, and there is a lot of variety to the color. I think it will be a great looking walkway when I finish. Only time will tell.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

The tomatoes have been in for about 2 weeks, and they've more than tripled in size. One of them is even starting to develop blooms. I am really excited!


The herbs on top are doing well also. The basil is doing best, so here is a picture of it. The cilantro and thyme are also up, but not as big as the basil.


I've been working on our front walk for about a week now. I started last Thursday and have worked on it every day except Sunday since then. I still have to put sand on top of the gravel, then it's on to the flagstones. That should be fun... And one day maybe we'll get some real grass.


C finally pulled out his tooth last night! It's his upper incisor, and the other one is loose as well. So he may be able to sing about what he wants for Christmas and really mean it!

That's all I have to update on right now. Nothing much else is really happening... Except the weather, and it's always changing- kinda like us...

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange (ch-ch-changes)
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange (ch-ch-changes)
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me, but I can't trace time

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange (ch-ch-changes)
Oh, look out, you rock and rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange (ch-ch-changes)
Pretty soon now, you're gonna get older
Time may change me, but I can't trace time
I said that time may change me, but I can't trace time

Topsy What-y

Opa gave us some tomato seedlings. I think the whole upside down tomato planter "as seen on TV" is pretty cool, but it looks cheap. So I followed the family motto: why pay for it, when you can build it. I had a 4x4 and some 2x10 laying around, so for the price of the hanging pots and the metal hangers, I have my upside-down tomato plants. I drilled holes in the bottom of the pots and me and J put the plants through the holes. A little newspaper to hold the soil in. Some potting soil. And I even planted some basil and such on top of the pots. Mel says it looks very "HGTV". I think I want to add a cap on top of the post for asthetics. or a rooster wind vane...
We'll see in about 2 months whether gravity defying tomatos are really all the commercials make them out to be.


Sorry for the crude pic... it's dark out- but you get the idea

Spring Break '09

Our camera died a while ago, so we haven't posted in a while. We didn't even get any pictures of Easter. I finally broke down and bought a new one for our trip to the beach.
We had a great time with Chuck and Colleen, Camille and Cadence. We spent a couple days hanging out at Ft. Walton Beach enjoying the waves and sun. The kids had a great time. We got to visit the Air Force Armament Museum and saw a lot of great sights there as well.


Enjoying the sun!


C, catchin' some rays


J, chillin' on the beach


C posing, while J is messing with some missile... Hey you're gonna get us blowed up!


Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb


With his newly implanted cyborg eyes, C could see things he had never thought possible

In One Ear and Out the Other

I got this limb chicken with my .22 LR at about 50 yards. Right through the ears!
That's about the cleanest shot I ever made.

Redneck Snow

Freak snow"storm" blew in this morning. Church was dismissed early and we came home and played in the snow. It started snowing about 8:00 this morning, and it is still snowing. It's a lot lighter now, but for a while, we had realio, trulio snow falling from the redneck sky.


You want a piece of me?


Snow cream


...and we loved Frosty very much, even though he was poor and his family didn't own a bathtub.


"It's cold- my fingers hurt!"