Weekend's Gone??

Grandkids in the Hot Tub-They LOVE it and can't wait to get in after they get home from school!!

How'd that happen SO fast? Anyway-we got LOTS done here! Jeff worked ALL day Saturday on the deck-and got it finished! It looks great! I worked on cleaning the house-not that you can tell it! We are fighting a battle with the sand-and I think it's winning! We went out and ate with our friends-Sheila & Alfred and then spent some time in the hot tub-what a wonderful visit with them-catching up and just relaxing!

Yesterday was spent with continued cleaning and with Randy moving back home with us. Try putting 2 households into 1 already full one-ain't fun! He has rented out his house and decided to move back in with us for awhile. He just has no need for a 4 bedroom-2 bath house all by himself. And it just takes some of the stress off. He still has a few things to move this afternoon and has to get his major appliances out.

And I did finally get my truck-I've just been so busy-I haven't taken any pics of it or the deck or anything else around here! I did get the blue one-it's really pretty! We also have gotten a little cool front through here!! It should be about 65 here in the morning-but still up to the 90's during the day-so we still have to run the a/c for awhile! I can't wait to turn it OFF & open up the windows!!

Have a great day!!!

Phase 2-Complete!!

OK-Let's get this thing off the trailer now! (Didn't we just put it on there a few days ago?)

Easy does it-Is it really gonna fit in that space?

OK-Now it's in there-Now what??

I tried to post this yesterday morning-but my internet was giving me MAJOR fits-so let's try this again! We did pick up the hot tub on Thursday-met some really nice people! Jeff had to work on Saturday-a few hours turned into a 10 1/2 hr day! So Sunday he got to work on it! He decided to tear out part of the deck he had already built and redesigned it! Then he got Ricky, Randy, Jacob and Justin to help him get it in and leveled up. Thanks again, guys! Between Randy, Jeff and Tim-they got the pump to finally come on and it works great! I have to find a place that sells the filters-we only have 1 at the moment! We still have to find out what's wrong with the heater-hopefully it's something as simple as a corroted connection. We didn't get in it last night-way too much lightning going on! We did put the cover on it-even though it's in pretty bad shape-we are worried the little ones will try to get in it when no one is home. As soon as we finish the deck-we can put up the railing and be able to keep them off the deck.

I'll be waiting on a call about my truck today-can't wait to see if they can find me one! Have a great day!

First day of School!!

Jordan, Hailey and Cayden-ready to get to school-back packs and all! Look at those smiles-can you tell they were excited??!!

Well-the first day is over! Hailey made it through her first day of 4th grade and James Street Elementary survived a full day of Jordan and Cayden! Actually they had a wonderful time on their first day of Kindergarten and they plan to return tomorrow! Jordan almost missed his bus-he said he was playing on the computer in another class. Cayden said she learned how to play with Playdough and how to sleep! I'll take all 3 to school starting tomorrow-I just hope they decide to get out of the truck when we get there!

I'm trying to get a new truck, too. The dealership is looking for a blue one-but with the Cash for Clunkers program-stocks are very low. They even starting looking for a red one today. The nearest blue one is in Temple. They seem to think they can get one in for me tomorrow-sure hope they can find a blue one-they sure are pretty-Oh-it's a Dodge Ram quad cab.

We did get the hot tub last week and Jeff and the guys got it in its' place in the deck yesterday! The kids are having a ball-they played in it before they got the pump going! The heater isn't working-Jeff wants to run some tests on it-but it feels good-even being cool at the moment. We all got in last night-Randy stayed in it for hours-he even drained the water heater for the house into it!! We still have alot of work to do on the deck-I'll try to post some pics of the hot tub going in tomorrow morning-I tried this morning-but my internet was acting crazy!

Have a great evening!

Phase 2-Complete!!

Phase 2-Work In Progress

Well-the deck is going up! Jeff has the frame up and the deck boards down as far as the door and water heater. The water heater will have to be drained, disconnected and raised up to the level of the deck-we're gonna just put it up there and build a little shed-with a vent on top-to close it in. And the best news of all-we found a Hot Tub! We will take a truck load of guys with us this evening and go into Houston to pick it up! It is 7'8" square and they said it took 6 guys to move it into the backyard. We really didn't want to put up many more of the deck boards until we got a hot tub so we'd know where to put all the extra bracing underneath where the tub will be. So here we go-another adventure!!

We have a busy day today! Alana will have to take me to work-her car engine overheaded-so now she's without a way to go. She needs to go get Jordan a haircut and buy groceries. She'll pick me back up @ 4:00-with Jordan, Hailey and Cayden-so we can go meet their teachers and drop off their school supplies. Boy-are their worlds gonna change in a few days!! Then we have to rush on back home so we can hook the trailer up and get into Cleveland to pick Ricky up from work and the dollies to move the hot tub and head on into Houston.

We've been getting rain showers-some heavy-almost everyday since the weekend-but it is still very dry. We are already feeding hay to the cows-but the grass seems to be turning green again with the rain. Jeff has to work again this Saturday-inventory-so we won't make the trip to the beach-maybe next weekend! Some of the hens seem to be coming out of their molt-so we should start getting a few more eggs. I haven't walked out to the hog pens in a few weeks-I'm sure the feeder pigs are really growing-the biggest ones' days are getting numbered-I'm sure! The first really cold front we get and Jeff will be ready to make sausage!

Have a great day!

Great Weekend!

The stringer of Gaff-Top all the guys caught-the boys caught some of them,too. And Jeff caught a nice shark-it was big enough to keep the kids out of the water for awhile!

We had a GREAT weekend at the beach! And I almost talked myself out of going! I was just so tired-I didn't even want to make the 2 hour drive. Jeff and I talked almost the whole way and the time flew by! And the beach was just beautiful-the water was calm and just so peaceful! We walked down and talked to Duane and Ann until dark-the builders put the walls and roof on their house this week-it looks SO good!

On Saturday-Tim and Candy and kids-including girlfriends and friends-came down-they put the awning up and we all but stayed down on the beach all day. The guys fished and the kids just hung out in the water.It was so warm-I went out a few times and Candy even went out once. Tom, Angie and Dusty came down, too. It was her first time to come down and they stayed til it was getting dark. Everyone else headed back into Winnie to the hotel rooms they had rented.Tim and crew came back yesterday morning-but nearly everyone was so sunburned-they really didn't want to spend anymore time in the sun! They went over to Galveston and spent a little time over on the Island before coming home.

When we got home-Jeff got to working a little on the deck-It is all level now and ready to start putting the joists in. We got the banana trees dug up and transplanted. Jeff had to start working 10 hour days today-possibly 12 hour shifts. He has to get up at 3:45 am to get ready for work-Yuck! And still no luck on finding a hot tub-but I'm not giving up! Have a great day!

Family & Farm Update

Ok-Let's see-Jeff's dad is still in the hospital in Conroe-Hopefully he will get to come home today! We went to see him last night and he did seem better. He will be going home with a new nebulizer and the wheel chair has finally been delivered. They are also going to get some help at home for Henrietta with him. What a blessing!! And Bubba did NOT have a heart attack-they don't know what happened. Kelley was able to get him into a Doc in Conroe-Monday he had a stress test-it was OK-Yesterday he had the echo-don't know the results and today he will have the heart cath done. His blood pressure was lower yesterday-but still a little high with all the meds he's on.
We've been getting a little rain on & off! None yesterday,though. The hens have all but quit laying-might get an egg or two everyday. The calves are growing like weeds-They had me so tickled the other evening-they were playing-pushing on each other and running around with their tails up in the air! Just too much fun to watch! It's so hot-the rabbits are just miserable! Some days they hardly eat at all!
Still no luck on finding a hot tub-but I'm in no hurry-the right one will pop up! I just don't want to have to drive all the way to the other side of Houston into neighborhoods I know nothing about!
Have a great day!

Phase 1-Complete!

Shed still attached to the house

Almost in its new place! Can you find the nosey cow in the background?

Boy-it looks different now!!

With all the craziness this weekend-we did get something done! The shed is no longer attached to the house! It wasn't easy-and the propane line got broken-so we had just enough hot water to take our shower last night, So-Jeff will have to stop on his way home and get the stuff to repair it-I can't cook, either!

Jeff's Dad is back in the hospital-having trouble breathing again. Hopefully they will get to come home soon! They had to take my older brother to the ER on Friday-his blood pressure was off the charts-they thought he had a heart attack-but now are saying they don't know-He has to have a stress test today or tomorrow. Kaytlynn's party was Saturday night and Jeff took me to dinner afterwards in Livingston. We went to Conroe yesterday to see Jeff's dad and went by Lowe's and picked up the deck material-in the RAIN!!! We got some here-but it is so dry-it just soaked up! Then-Jeff got stuck in the SAND in the yard trying to back the truck and trailer up into the back yard.

Gotta get to work-I hear it's gonna be a crazy one around there this week!

Phase 1-Complete!

Phase 1-Complete!

Happy Birthday, Kaytlynn (& me)!!-Yesterday!

What a busy-crazy week! It went by So fast-I didn't even realize I hadn't posted anything this week-although nothing much is going on-Does that make any sense?? After working for hours on Monday-Jeff, Randy and Tim FINALLY got the satelitte back up and running-it was the coax under the house the whole time!
We have decided that instead of taking a weekend trip for our anniversary-and spending way too much money on a hotel, etc. ,that we would spend the money on something we could enjoy anytime we wanted. We are going to put in a hot tub at the back of our house.We have an old shed built on to our house that we have used for a utility room for years-thanks Alfred for helping us build it all those years ago!! It only has the freezer, meat grinder and LOTS of junk in it now. So the freezer will be moved back into the house in the new utility room and the shed will be taken off and moved against the back fence in the yard and set up for Jeff to do his butchering in! YEAH! Everything will be in one place!
Next, we will extend the back porch with a deck that runs the length of the house. We have a bedroom window that opens onto that new deck and we have a brand new exterior door in the barn that we bought for the beach house last year-2 weeks before the storm. So that door will be put in so we can walk right out of the bedroom and in to the new hot tub! Sounds like a plan, huh!
I have a few leads on hot tubs-just waiting to hear back from the owners. Jeff had to work again today and Randy is supposed to come haul off Alana's old van from the shop. Kaytlynn's birthday party is tonight at her other MeMe's-she has a big pool-so the pool party is ON!! We have a chance of rain this evening-we really need it-but I don't want it to rain on her party!
I'll take pictures as the work on the house begins-I know it's gonna look SO different when that shed come off! It blocks my view from the kitchen window to the left side of the yard and we put the garden window above the sink after the shed was put up-so it'll open up my world view from the kitchen!
Have a great weekend!!!

Kinda Slow Weekend

Heh-that's the way it went. I was off on Friday-the last one-we go back to regular hours today! I just don't like 10 hour days. Anyway-I went into Conroe on Friday and got some shopping done-didn't make it everywhere I had planned-I just plain ran out of time! Then that evening while watching TV-Jeff decided to adjust the DTV-and somehow zapped the eye-we believe. Our setup is SO old-he tried to get it back in alignment-no luck. Jeff had to work on Saturday and was gonna try to fix it when he got in-but my Aunt Linda called and they wanted to go to the beach-so when Jeff got in from work-we went and picked them up in Tarkington and headed down there! I'm really glad we went-the grass wasn't looking so good. We gave it 2 good soakings-it doesn't looklike we'll be getting much rain-hopefully onee of those sea breeze showers will kick up!
We came on back home around noon and Jeff went to work on the satelite-still no luck. Randy called and has a new setup coming for us-so we've had no TV since Friday-but we really don't watch it much-it's just on for the noise and the news! We did finally watch a wonderful movie last night-Fireproof-it's a really good Christian film! We just never take the time to sit and watch movies.
We moved the cows back into the pasture here-since last weeks rains-the grass is growing nicely again! We will need to brush hog the front pasture-maybe this evening-it has lots of weeds poking up in it. I'm still working on getting the garden cleaned up-it's coming along slowly-I have 2 and a half beds cleaned out now-I really need to rake and shovel rabbit manure and top them off with it!
Have a great day!!!