Elizabeth's 8th Birthday!!!

Ginger's Lazy Day Video

I feel the urge to share another Ginger the Boxer Story.

I have Guilty Pleasures.....what can I say.

My Attempt at School Pictures

I am no Stacey Gooch!!!

I needed to take some school type pictures of the kids because they haven't had any done for a long while. The thing is, I hate school pictures. They don't show your child's personality. They are completely staged and posed and they are expensive to boot. So I took my cheap digital camera and took some fun pics of the kids. Threw the pictures into black and white so that their features were accentuated and told them to have fun. This was the result.

The Latest of Ginger with The Kids

Complicating Things

I love visiting with my sweet neighbors Ben and Janel.  They are beyond belief when it comes to the phrase, "Great Neighbors".  Well I recently went over to her home to "borrow" her boxer.  I wanted their sweet female boxer, Dempsey, to try out a new dog bed that William and I built. 

While over there Janel shook her head and said something that really struck me.  She said, "You're always finding another project to work on."  She really is right.  I can't believe it but I really am good at complicating my life.  What is the deal?

So here it is.  I homeschool three young children.  That in itself is a FULL TIME JOB.  Some days we can be done around lunch time, but most of the time we work well into the afternoon.  Besides that I am constantly on the lookout for some other something to make my life busier. 

How about getting a new dog for a project?  I am getting a puppy!!!!  That is like having another baby.  What am I doing?  The initial cost alone should have knocked some sense into me.  We don't have money, I can't spare any change for the homeless guy on the corner.  What the heck am I doing trying to home another being in our already very humble household?

So after we made our fun little dog bed.  Guess what I did.  I found some fabric while at Walmart yesterday and made a blanket for our new addition. 

 It only took me a couple of hours, but honestly that was a couple of hours I could have spent practicing my EXTREMELY complicated and ambitious piano piece for an upcoming recital.  Yes, I am doing that too!!!  I have to clean, and fold clothes, and don't even mention the bathroom sinks.  But yet I am constantly on the lookout for the next great project to work on while postponing the mundane normal things that I am supposed to be working on. 

Heaven help me.  Maybe I will slow down when the weather cools off......but then again, that's never slowed me down before.  I am just that good at complicating things!

Introducing Ginger The Boxer

Yes, you heard me.  We are getting a puppy.  After close to two years of being without Charlie, our awesome Black Lab, we have decided we have been dog free for long enough. 

Ginger kind of just fell into our laps in a sense.  We saw her parents being walked about six months ago down the street and stopped the handlers and asked if they planned to breed them.  I got a call on the 30th of July telling me that they had their puppies.  At the time, William and I weren't sure if now was the time, but a week later Tia, the handler, not Ginger, called me back and I was weak and said we are coming to pick one out.  She is beautiful and really has a very sweet personality.  She doesn't have the most beautiful markings in her litter, but she is the most beautiful personality for our family.  Ginger's nose is half white and half black with a thin stripe of white that reaches up her forhead.  She has white toes, and a white chest, and the funniest thing is she has four to five white hairs between her shoulder blades.  I sure hope that they stay.  It's really unnoticed until you are close.    We can't wait till she can come home and be part of our family.  So here is our crude video of Ginger.  Enjoy. 

Click Text Below for Link.

Ginger 4 Weeks - You Tube

Super Soaker Sunday

William's company decided to have a picnic this year.  Nice change if you ask me.  After his company was bought out by Rush Trucks things seem to be good or at least they are working on it. 
Rush Trucks forked over the dough to send as many employees and their families from Southern Idaho to go to Roaring Springs Water Park and Wahooz Fun Center.  They were both unlimited passes and you also could get unlimited drinks and free ice cream too.  The kids really had a great time.

Surprises

Spring (almost Summer) has brought such a nice surprise......

The kids thought it would be fun to play on their new OLD Red Flyer wagon.  One of the things that they absolutely love to do is have one in front of the wagon steering while the other sits backwards and walks the wagon forward.  They think they are having a blast.  Isn't that the point?

Well our next door neighbor has a little tree next to the sidewalk and the kids said they heard a bird fly out of the tree as they passed by.  When they looked into the tree they saw a nest and insisted that I come see.  I love nests as long as they aren't in the eaves of my house, so I grabbed the camera and headed over.

This nest is just picturesque.  Really perfect in everyway and as I was trying to get a good picture of it I spotted a hint of blue, and at that moment realized it had Robin's eggs in it.  Yay, what a treat.  So we took some pictures of the pretty eggs. 

The kids really got a kick out of it. 

Hopefully the cats in the neighborhood stay clear and these babies make it. 

William's Commuter Project

As you may have heard by now, William sold his beloved '79 Trans Am.  Which we explained in a previous blog.  But the absence of the muscle car limited my ability to access the outside world because I had no transportation at all.  William preferred this because it limited my ability to spend money and he always knew where I was......can you say control freak?
Our gas guzzling Durango is a great family vehicle and it also allows me to pick up lumber at Home Depot when I have got some project that I am working on.  However, to drive back and forth from the West end of Nampa to the East side of Boise it made no sense.  It is costing us about $80 a week to keep gas in that vehicle and with the gas prices soaring and no sign of relief we had to find a solution.  So William and I decided to get him a commuter car. 
Now my idea of a commuter car did not match his idea.  My idea included a small foreign car that gets like 750 miles per gallon.  It would be really great if we could find a car that runs on water or ever air.

Yah, okay so my ideal commuter car is not a real possibility but I decided he should settle for a little Toyota, Audi, VW, or something that got close to 30 mpg.  William looked at all the cars that I had tagged on Craigslist for him to look at and he told me no on almost every single one, because he said he didn't want to die in a little car.  Whatever that means.  So he talked me into a mid size sedan.  So if the situation arose that we needed to switch cars for a day we would still be able to fit into the car.  FINE!! I agreed.  After much of his research, because that's what this man does......RESEARCH!!!, we decided that a Pontiac Grand Prix would be fine for the family and get much better gas mileage than we are currently getting in our "substitute minivan" called an SUV. 
So then the search shifted to finding a decent used Grand Prix that wouldn't require too many repairs and too much dough.  While perusing the Craigslist ads, I came across a car that was not EXACTLY what we had in mind, but it was really close.  It also was only $700.  Mechanics Special they call it. 

You know "I don't know what's wrong with this car, it's going to cost me a million dollars to have a mechanic fix it.  If you are a mechanic, it's special!!!"

It looked good in the picture, but pictures are deceiving.  We had to see this thing in person!!!  Well let's just say WOW!!!  There was a cat living in the car!!!  You heard me a C. A. T.  Oh the hair was everywhere.  If you were allergic to cats and got near this car you would die.  If you weren't allergic to cats and got near this car, you would develop an allergy to cats.  It was bad!!! 

This guy pulled out the AC Vents and put little speakers in there instead.  WHAT?!?!?!?  In fact there was wire everywhere, and the door panels were ripped off so that this guy could tap into the factory wiring for his "STEREO SYSTEM".

 The good news was the seats, aside from being a cat bed for who knows how long, were in great condition.  No tears.  Three of the four windows could not be rolled up and down.  The cleanest part of the car!!  The trunk.  Needless to say this was going to be a job.


William checked out all the mechanical type things that the car would need done......which really didn't amount to as much as these people thought it would cost.  Of course they didn't know where the dipstick was, so that made for easy negotiations.  We told them that we would give the $500 and they agreed.  We towed the car home and the work began. 

First thing.  CLEAN THE CAR!

Second thing.  GET THIS CAR ON THE ROAD!
There was a leak in the transmission.  Well leak is a nice word, more like a "pour" in the transmission.  If you poured new fluid in it poured right out! That ended up being a $17 fix. 
We made a trip to Jalopy Jungle (a pick a part place) to find some cosmetic pieces for the car, including a new door panel and a dash to replace the previous owner's attempt at a mini surround sound system.  We also replace the window motors.  New headlights.  New battery and battery cables.  The car needs a tune up and an oil change and from that point on the car is road worthy. 
So really it didn't turn out being so bad and my husband being the resourceful and talented mechanic that he is is able to do all this work at a mere fraction of what it would have cost to have it repaired in a shop.  He will have his commuter car very soon.  The great news is that it didn't have to break the bank, I sold some furniture around the house and we saved a little from his check and was able to get the car.  The repairs are being done little by little as we can afford them. 

This is the floor after we pulled the seats and the mats out.  YUCK

Will found a shoe under one of the seats

I found a wasp building a hive

This is after we cleaned but before we got the door panels back on.  They are on now and the car would not be recognized by the previous owners.  I am sure of it. 

I am sad that his commuter car isn't as cool as his TransAm.  But it will get about 15 more miles per gallon than his TA.  

Selling a Dream

Once upon a time there was a young man who had a desire for a car.  Not just any car, but an aged muscle car that he can resurrect into something that any man would envy.  This young man had a will and a determination that was unmatched by his peers.  He always seemed to make his desires happen and often stated, "When there is a will there is a way."  In fact his name is Will and like his name he is noble in heart and mind.  His dream to own this car was something that he would never give up on.  One day this young man met a girl.  This girl was many things including determined, but this girl also tends to create distractions.  They fell in love and were married. 

Will and his bride lived a quite normal life.  One day Will's desire for his car was at a peak and he and his wife travelled to a land called California to search for his desired car.  They travelled through the jungles, and mountains.  They travelled to beaches and traversed deserts.  Until at last they found the car. 

It was gold and had all the original parts, which meant that Will could start with the basics and make this car what he wanted.  Will and his wife drove the car home, back over hills and through deserts.  Many repairs needed to be made to the car to get it running in a suitable and reliable fashion.  Will had the engine and transmission rebuilt.  He had the carburator and gas tank refurbished.  He spent hours working on his car till at last it ran to his satisfaction.  His wife however never seemed to be satisfied.  You see, she was a vain woman, and didn't like the way the car looked.  It always appeared dirty to her, and the tears in the seats, the paint fading, and the carpet missing always made her feel that it wasn't a great car.  But the wife loved Will more than life itself and knew that the car meant a lot to him.  So she allowed Will his pleasure and didn't complain, too much. 
Until one day a terrible thing happened.  The nobles in the land had made life very difficult for the peasants and thus a young family such as Will's had a very difficult time making a living for his young family which now consisted on three small children including his very dependant wife.  These difficulties made it next to impossible to justify spending what little money they had on a car.  So there the car sat in the garage.  Occasionally the wife would drive the car around their town to take the kids to the doctor or to get food at the market, but the car was being neglected.  Will worked extremely hard at his job to provide for his family and didn't have much time to spare for his car. 
Then one day a lot of money was required to be paid by the small family to one of the nobles in the land.

Will and his wife did not want to go into debt to pay this money, so matter of factly Will stated that it was time to sell his car.  The wife knew how much the car meant to Will, and thus she knew the sacrifice that he was making.  With tears in her eyes she pleaded with Will, to try to find another way to raise the money.  But Will knew that his car was their most valuable possession and therefore needed to be sold to help this family stay out of debt.  The family prayed together and asked that the car be sold in enough time to satisfy the nobles.  Many attempts were made to sell the car until at last the family was just about to give up hope and go get a loan, when a message was recieved that the car was desired by another in the land.  He offered quite a bit less than Will desired for his car, but it was enough money to pay the nobles.  So reluctantly Will sold his car.  This story is not over, in fact I believe it's just begun.  The Father that we have in Heaven has a plan for us and many times we don't see what it is till much later.  So now the wife desires nothing more than for her Will to have a dream car in the future and thus this story is to be continued.