Hello Spring

Dancing with Jason to some Willy Nelson until he was done for the night.

To start this week I figured I would share a quote I recieved in an e-mail. It pretty much sums up the two major rules of fixing things in our house.

Sometimes, we just need to remember what the rules of life really are: In life, you only need two tools - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move but should, use the WD-40. If it should not move and does, use the duct tape.

Our bedroom's new color.

It has been a crazy few weeks here in Casper with all of the painting around our house. It is really coming together though. The weather has been beautiful and it has given us a chance to really enjoy getting outside. The worst part of the day is when we have to go back inside. Hopefully it will be beautiful the weekend of the 11th because that is the day we are going to do the dirt work in the yard. I can't wait for that to be done.

As I said before, we have been super busy working on the house. With that comes a lot of cleaning as well. There isn't just the normal mess, but the messes we make with our updates and painting. Well last week I was vacuuming when all of the sudden I started to smell smoke. I didn't think that was all that unusual, so I just turned off the vacuum to let it cool off, but it just kept on smoking. Then it happened .................... Fire!!!!!!!.......................Yes, I just said fire. There was fire coming out from the base of the vacuum. I quickly got it out to the deck and dumped a glass of water on it. Suprisingly enough nothing else was damaged, just the vacuum. It is done for. It took a few days for the smoke smell to go away, but we are back to the norm. I am just thankful that we usually are very boring people because I don't think I could deal with that kind of excitement on a regular basis. By the way if Jason evey goes to any of your houses, watch out, he thinks that it is ok to dump water or juice on vacuums now. What a helper. Have a great start to your week everyone and I hope that none of you have vacuums plotting against you.

Helping Dad start his pickup.

Cotton Mouth So Bad I Could Spit a Pair of Long Underwear

Now that is a bad case of cotton mouth!!

I was just thinking about all of those crazy sayings that we use all of the time and about those that just make us laugh. The one I used for a title was one that I heard last weekend from our friend Chad. Who ever came up with that one is very creative. Then there are so many that have come from my brother in law, Dave. My favorite one that he says is “Off like a prom dress.” Then there are the ones that have been around for as long as I can remember such as “bleeding like a stuck pig” or “hungry as a horse.” Those aren’t as funny, but still used frequently. Then there are the meaningful ones like “The early bird gets the worm.” We have all heard that one but does anyone know where it came from? My question is where these catchy phrases find their beginnings? Are there people out there that just write catchy phrases or are they thought up on a whim? Do any of you have a favorite? I would love to hear them.

A Parent's Duty

OH, NO!!

Each and every one of us has parents. Not all of them are the same, but they do have something in common. They have embarrassed us at one time or another. There are always those moments that stick with us for the rest of our lives. The classic cause of embarrassment that we always hear about in television and books are bath pictures. I can remember my parents saying embarrassing things in front of friends. When we were little there wasn’t the Internet to post pictures or to communicate. This has really brought the ability to embarrass your kids to a whole new level. Now I will share with you some bath pictures of Jason. I am sure one day he will get mad over the fact that we felt the need to share these with family friends, but it will get worse. I learned about embarrassment from the best mentor, my dad. For those of you that know him, you know what I mean. Do any of you have any stories to share about embarrassment? We all can’t wait to hear some good ones.

Another Classic

Home Improvement

Jason with his friend, Kaden and Kolton (Kolton is in the chair and Kaden is eating the cookie.)

Hi Everyone!!! I must start out by appologizing for not posting for a few days. We have been very busy working on the house. On Saturday we brought the last load to the dump!!! This was a monumental moment for us because we never thought we would finish that job. When we got home we started to stain the deck. Now it is actually repelling water. It was an all day project, but so worth the effort. Sunday we continued to work around the house trying to take advantage of the beautiful weather. I painted Jason's room a very classic boy color, blue. As you can see from the pictures we really were trying to stay away from white walls. I don't think we could have went more blue.

Oh boy.....Oh blue.

Jason's dresser.....in all of its glory.

On Sunday we decided to clean up the front yard too. It was a lot of work, but looks way better. We are really trying to personalize this house and it is coming together slowly but surely. I will post some before and after pictures of the front of the house when the flowers start to come up.

Book It

Which book next?

It is just amazing how a child can love books before he or she can even understand the pictures on the pages. Even though books don't make crazy noises or have flashy movements children seem to be drawn to them. Jason deffinately loves books. He would have Colin and I read all day every day if he could. As soon as he started to walk he began to carry his books over to us and grunt or cry until we read it. Now he walks over with a book, opens one of our hands and shoves the book in it. After reading a book 20 times in a row I tend to hide it. But, he always goes and grabs another. This would be wonderful if it were fun and exciting books, but most of them are full of mindless rhyming. We love reading those books to him..........to a point. After a while it gets old reading the same book over and over again. Maggie gave Jason a collection of books for Christmas that has helped with this problem. There are enough books there that Jason can rotate them. He still has his favorites though. He loves pretty much any Dr. Seuss and especially Cuddles the Cow. I guess he has a great start to loving books and reading. Who knows maybe he will love school.

Horsing around!

On another note we are currently getting ready to paint the spare room/office in our house. Yesterday we took down shelves and filled holes. Today it is the big paint day. So, the next time anyone comes to visit your room should be a lot nicer. Have a great day and I will post some updates soon.