I Hate Iceland.

latest map of extent of volcanic ash cloud

Last night when the volcanic ash kept drifting more and more southeast into Europe, I said, "When our flight gets canceled, I'm putting this video on my blog."

So here it is:



p.s. - we were supposed to go to Germany today.
p.p.s. - I just hope that this article doesn't come true . . . or we are in for another ice age folks.

Spring Pics! Eyes Closed!

Decided to take some spring pics of us outside one day . . .
Shane goofing off!
In the back yard (it really wasn't THAT sunny. Shane has issues with opening his eyes).
And our signature pose (except notice Shane's closed eyes again). Didn't turn out as good as our "Christmas" pics, but I still like em (minus the closed eyes! Ha!)!

Behren's 4th Birthday!

Happy 4th Birthday, Behren!

Boys And Their Toys . . .

We just got a new (used) tractor, and the grass finally grew long enough that Shane was able to go out and play with his new toy! I was surprised at how quick it was for him to mow so much! (Good thing when you have 8.5 acres!) Also a good thing when you only mow like 2 or 3 of it (the rest are woods and such!)!

Faith Restored

Remember when I discussed my first 911 call?!

Our neighbors wrote a lovely letter to the editor about "Faith in civil authorities restored".

Here is a blurb from Mrs. Herman's letter (read the rest here):

"My 911 call gave me more than I could ever dream: police, dogs, a helicopter and caring people at 2 a.m.

I want to thank the state police, McKean Fire Department, community volunteers and all our family and friends for the love and compassion shown to us in that time of trauma. You proved that, beyond a doubt, seniors are valuable."

This about made me cry. I stated how impressed I was with the police and 911 call center, and I still stand firm to that! They did an amazing job and used all their resources to find Mr. Herman. And I just love that we have such wonderful neighbors and an awesome society that still cares about each other. Go Erie!


p.s. - Thanks to my Mother-in-Law, Rita, for letting me know this letter was in the newspaper!

Mommy & Me Quad : Swim!

Sunday marked the first event of the QUAD. The swim! 100 yards, which really doesn't seem that far, but holy cow! It's tiring when you are trying to go as fast as you can!
I asked my Mommy a while back to do the QUAD with me, and she said "yes!" (She said no pics of her, so don't tell her I put this up!) I really wanted to do the QUAD and was so glad that my mom was so eager and excited to do it with me!
I started out really well (thanks to the hubs for the pics)! I felt good, and my goggles weren't foggy or filled with water (always a plus). Then at about the 50 yard mark, I got REALLY tired. I don't breathe very well at all, let alone when I'm in the water, so that wasn't helping me.
So I flipped on my back to try to get more oxygen, but every time I would pick my arm up to do the backstroke, the water would go in my mouth! But I finally made it!
And so did my mommy! I was so proud of her! We both had a lot of fun and it felt so great afterward (she was feeling better than me! I couldn't breathe!)!
Excited to show off our awesome QUAD shirts! Seriously though. I was really excited about them! Blue, blue, and blue (love that color! . . don't notice my black coat that totally clashes with it though)! I guess when we complete all 4 events, we get an exclusive long sleeve t-shirt!
Here's Mommy and I after the event (her getting ready to leave)! I definitely think that we should maybe train a little more for the other events coming up rather than just going for a leisure (swim) run through once before the actual event! But it's so great to have my mommy in this with me. She's pushing me and I'm pushing her, and we are doing it together, and having a great time! Can't wait for the next event!! The 12 mile bike ride!

Birdies!

I don't know if it's been the nice weather, or the birdies finally found our bird feeders, but we've been getting all sorts, and it's so exciting for me (and the kitties)!
I thought this was cool because you can see it flying away!
Some blue jays! We've seen several cardinals too!

I wanna get some finch food out and some hummingbird concoction, and some grape jelly in our Oriole feeder too!

Well, Well, Well . . . .

Well, I told you I'd show you more pics of the well, so here they are:
Here is Shane in the 4ft hole that we dug to get down to the adapter that was leaking (did I tell you we had to dig UNDER our deck too?!).
And there it is! The leak! Squirting everywhere!
I guess they used a plastic adapter, so we were told to buy a metal one to replace it with! We got it installed (with help from Sommer's daddy), and Shane and I shoveled all the dirt/clay/rocks back in the hole. Hope it works! So far so good!

Well, Well!

Not the best picture (from a phone - I have better pics I will post later), but this is what we did last night . . . .

Dug and dug and dug! We noticed a puddle of water next to the well and the bark surrounding it was wet. We've been having issues with our water pump constantly running even when we don't have the water on, and we've never had the best water pressure.

We've had several other issues at our house already, and it is very stressful and disheartening, but I sure am glad that God put such amazing people in our lives that know how to fix all of it!

Our sister-in-law's (Sommer's) dad came over last night with Shane's dad and they thought that the adapter from the well was leaking . . . and they were right! After we dug down 3-4 feet, we saw the water squirting out. We were kinda relieved that we found the problem right away, instead of there being nothing there and still trying to figure out what it was.

Hopefully we can fix it today and that will help with our electric costs and water pressure!

Oh the joys of being a home owner! It never ends!

Mommy and Me Quad!

I really wanted to do the QUAD this year, and asked my mom if she wanted to do it with me. I thought it would be something fun, something challenging, something called exercise, something to bring our bond even closer than it already is.

FACTS:

• First QUAD ever that we will be doing . . . . EVER
• You can do the "Competitive" or "Fitness" category. We chose fitness so we don't have to fall down doing cross country skiing. The only other difference is that they post your times alphabetically for fitness and by fastest time for competitive.
  
• SWIM = 100 yards April 11, 2010
  
• BIKE = 12 Miles July 10, 2010
  
• RUN = 5 Miles Sept 11, 2010
  
• SNOWSHOE = 2.5 Miles Jan 9, 2011
  

Obviously, these aren't all done at the same time (THANK GOODNESS!!), but it will help keep us active throughout the ENTIRE year (hopefully). . which will be good!

We actually went to the YMCA last night to see if we could even complete 100 yards swimming. . . . success! We actually swam 250 yards (not without taking a little breather in between, but still . . . we know we can do it! . . as long as we are allowed to do that there!)!

Next weekend marks our first event! Hopefully I can bring Shaney and/or my dad along to take some pics of us!

Mommy and Me QUAD . . here we come!

p.s. - This isn't an April Fool's joke.