Just Read and See

Book review

2012-02-14T08:19:00.003-06:00

I finished reading an old book, The Goldwulf Manuscript by Robert Parker, this week. This book was written in 1973 and is the first in the Spenser series that looks to be 39 books in all. I enjoyed reading the book and it was fun to see how much has changed in the last 39 years.
The book was good and I look forward to reading more of his series. As a matter of fact, I have already downloaded the second in the series to the Kindle. I am reading a different book right now and I think I will read more this year with the Kindle. I would recommend reading the Spenser mysteries even thought they are older books.

Short Post

2012-02-13T07:07:00.003-06:00

Here are the boys in our Sunday school class yesterday. That was the only time they sat down. They are not in the same class, but it was after I picked up John Loyd and brought him to Hunter's class.

Date Night

2012-02-12T06:44:00.002-06:00

Last night, Toni and I got to go out to eat and run some errands. A group at church was offering babysitting service as a fund raiser, so we took advantage and dropped the kids off. We went to J Alexanders in Cool Springs and it was crowded when we got there. The wait was not too bad, a little over 30 minutes and that was because we called ahead. The food was excellent, I had a steak and fries and Toni had the prime rib sandwich and a salad. It was real good food and nice having the night to just the two of us. After dinner, we went to Sams since we are shopping for a TV, but I am still not sure what we need to get. Now it is time to start getting ready for church.

Boys Night

2012-02-11T06:54:00.002-06:00

Last night, Toni got to go downtown with some friends, so it was a boys night around here. It is funny, but one of the things the boys like to do is pull up YouTube and watch music videos. Of course the boys want to request their songs, but I make them listen to stuff I like too.
Here is a picture before Toni left and we were playing the Chipmunks song Forget you. John Loyd was loving it because he had never heard that version. He was laughing big time when he heard that song. Hunter actually found a Teletubbies show and reminded me that he used to like them as a baby while he watched it. He could not remember the name of the show, but he had fun watching them. John Loyd's new favorite song is Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show and we played that a few times. It was a good night and I got the kids bathed and in bed on time, so maybe Toni will get to go out one more time.

Mid Week

2012-02-10T06:14:00.002-06:00

It is that time of the year when it is hard to do stuff. Hunting season is over and it is usually too cold to go outside for the thirty minutes of light left in the day.
Maddie was tired last night when I was folding clothes, so she went to sleep with her tiger. It might be that she is an Auburn fan and wanted everyone to know her true colors. Hunter got the last three Star Wars movies for an early Valentines day gift and they have been running on a continuous loop around here since Thursday. It is going to be cold this weekend, so I doubt we will do anything outside. I have enough that I can do around here to get some things done inside.

Hunting Stories

2012-02-09T06:40:00.003-06:00

On Wednesdays, I take Hunter to school. I had been talking about duck hunting and told him that I was trying to find a place nearby and he could go with me. He got all excited like we were going next weekend, and I had to explain that it would be a while before he could go shoot a gun. To cheer him up, I said that maybe I could take him turkey hunting one afternoon this spring.
His response was he did not have a costume to wear. I told him that he had pants and a jacket to wear, but he asked me if he could get gloves and a mask. It looks like I am going to have to take him shopping to get some camouflage. Last night was a little chilly, so I had a fire for the first time in a few weeks. It is going to be cold this weekend, so I think another fire or two might get started around here.

Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-06T06:31:00.002-06:00

Sunday started out with me staying home from church with John Loyd. His coughing has been bad and he had a little fever Sat night, so we went to church on TV. Actually, he slept until 10:30 and I think that is a record for him. Toni took him to the doctor and he has RSV. I just hope he gets over the cough soon and I think he will. We stayed in for the Super Bowl and Ganna came down to watch with us.
Here is the grill with the wings and ribs cooking. I did not have any of the good terriaki sauce, so I tried to make some. Everything was good, but the sauce needed to be thicker on the wings. I pigged out while watching the game and after eating so much this weekend, I think I need to go on a diet. I thought the Patriots would win by 3, but the Giants won a good game by 21-17. If I had to root for a team, I wanted the Giants to win, but I really did not care. Now that football is over until the fall, I need to get ready for baseball season.

Grilling

2012-02-05T07:21:00.003-06:00

I have been able to use the charcoal grill this weekend and the food has turned out great. Last night, we did some ribeye steaks and baked potatoes with salad.
Here is the charcoal chimney getting the coals ready to go on the grill. These chimneys are awesome and you do not have to use lighter fluid. I feel like I have got the grilling down on the new grill now I just need to learn how to smoke on it. It is more expensive using charcoal, but on the weekend when I have the time, it is fun to use it.

Outside Play time

2012-02-04T06:05:00.002-06:00

Yesterday after work, it was a nice evening, so we all went outside for a little while. It is funny that when I am outside looking at the grass, I notice how much green is coming up, but in the picture, I notice how brown the grass is.
John Loyd got the Gator out for a spin, while Hunter was helping Toni throw the ball for Maddie. I grilled some burgers on the charcoal grill and they turned out great. After dinner and baths, JL helped me fold some clothes downstairs, while Hunter and Toni played Star Wars on the Wii. John Loyd did pick up a cough that made sleeping difficult last night, but hopefully he will get over it.

Good night at Home

2012-02-03T05:46:00.002-06:00

Last night was a nice night around here. We did breakfast food for dinner and the boys were excited about pancakes and bacon for dinner. After dinner, we were hanging out in the playroom and John Loyd started on the drums.
I think he likes to bang them as loud as possible and then hit the cymbal when he is done. He will have to be in a heavy metal band since he likes it loud. I went to a luncheon with Dad yesterday and Ruston Webster, the Titans new GM, spoke at the event. It was a good event and it was neat listening to him and hearing about the Titans. The groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, so it means six more weeks of this mild winter. Now I need to figure out what I have to do around the house this weekend.

Book not Movie Review and Kindle Review

2012-02-02T06:43:00.004-06:00

I know that Moneyball by Michael Lewis is now out in the theaters, but I actually just read the book. I had been meaning to read the book for some time, but just never got around to it. I have also read the blind side by the author, and this book was in the same style.

You almost have to have some baseball knowledge to enjoy this book and since I like the stats in baseball too, it was a great book. I enjoyed reading this book and loved the inside look into baseball. I am sure the movie is good and it might be a while before I see it, but I would suggest reading this book. This was also the first book that I read on the Kindle Fire and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I told people that I would like to hold a book and the pages, but I could easily see me switching to all books on the Kindle. The only problem was when John Loyd would want to touch the screen. I guess that is about the same as when he tries to turn the pages in a book. The Kindle is easy to hold and easy to read on, so I might have to talk Toni into getting me one so she can have hers back.

Final Duck Hunt

2012-01-30T06:46:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was the final day of duck season this year and Toni let me go one more time. I did help her at church with the nursery, and then went down to hunt. When I got there, it was slow, so Jon took me on a tour of the area.
This is an old duck stand (or whatever you would call it) deep in the woods by the refuge. People used to climb up there and try to shoot the ducks as they flew by. It was at least 40 feet in the air. It was in rough shape, but it would be a different type of hunt to try out of that tower. There was plenty of ravines and it looked like a good spot for turkey and deer hunting around there.
Here is a picture of the hunting area from the top of the farm. The ducks really did not want to fly until the end of the afternoon and we got four after I got there. They had killed 16 before I got there in the morning. I think I got to hunt more this year than last year, and it was a great time. It never got really cold, so the ducks were not in the numbers they have been in the past few years around here. We did get to put a few ducks in the freezer, so we can cook some up throughout the year. Now I need to find a place for next year and see how nuch Toni will let me hunt.

Star Wars Night

2012-01-29T06:36:00.002-06:00

Last night we went to the Lipscomb basketball game and it was Star Wars night. I will have to ask Hunter who all the characters were, but there was about 10 characters there.
Luckily, I was chasing John Loyd around for most of the night, because Lipscomb played awful. They were down by 20 in the first half and wound up losing by 15. We made it to halftime and then the kids came back here and played. Jeremy and Jonas went with us and Hunter had his friend Rals with us. Rals was going to spend the night, but that did not work out, so Toni ran him home at bed time. It has been a busy weekend so far and now after church, I am going to sneak off on a last duck hunt of the year.

Cookeville Rodeo

2012-01-28T06:58:00.003-06:00

Last night, we went up to Cookeville for the rodeo that was in town. We met everyone for dinner at Nick's and it was real good. We had so many people, they gave us our own room, so that worked out good.
The place was crowded like normal and John Loyd was a little blown away at first by all the people. He stayed in my lap for a while and Hunter was watching with Nate and Ava. The started with the Bronc riding, bareback and saddle, and I am not sure it JL was rooting for the horses or the cowboys. The funniest thing was when they brought out a dog to do tricks and JL was laughing real loud.
We watched more steer wrestling and roping and then there was another intermission with a dog comedy show. I seriously think that John Loyd's cheeks might be sore this morning from laughing so loud. We got to see Tori race the barrel racing and she did good. We left during the bull riding since we came back home last night. The boys should sleep good because it was after midnight when we got home. Now we have plenty to do today and tonight, and then one more duck hunt before the season ends tomorrow.

Book Review

2012-01-25T11:29:00.003-06:00

Dad got me the book Game plan for Life by Coach Joe Gibbs for Christmas and I finished reading it last night. I normally review the fiction books that I read, so this one was different. It is a religous book and I would suggest it to anyone that does not believe in God all the way to someone who has strong faith in God.
The neat thing about the book was Coach Gibbs took on 11 different topics in the book and brought in 11 experts to write the chapter on each topic. He would write a few pages in each chapter introducing the expert and telling his story, and then the expert would expand on the topic. This book really made you think harder on the topics, and it is very biblically based. Like I said earlier, this book is a good read for anyone and I highly recommend it.

Sickness going around

2012-01-23T08:26:00.003-06:00

Saturday night was not a fun night around here. We went to bed and then John Loyd got up because he was hurting. He has had diarrhea (no idea how to spell it)and had a diaper rash that was hurting him. He wound up waking up everyone and Hunter was complaining of a sore stomach. I finally got JL back to sleep, and Toni took Hunter downstairs to the couch. Toni then woke me up to let me know that Hunter threw up all over the couch. We cleaned everything up and then went back to bed. Both boys seem to be doing better and I think it was just a little stomach bug they got. We have been lucky and not had too many hurls, so I thought I would talk about it.
Yesterday, the weather was warm, so JL got out on the Jeep in the backyard. I did not do too much around the house. I did watch some football and that was about it for the day. Now it is time to get the work week started.

Weekend

2012-01-21T06:20:00.002-06:00

It was a short work week with me taking two days off, but I am glad the weekend is here. Hopefully, I can clean out some of the junk that I have accumulated over the years. Last night, we grilled some steaks on the charcoal grill and they turned out good. We also had a baked potato, salad, and bread, and I ate like a king.
Here is Maddie checking out the duck that I brought home Thursday. She put the duck in her mouth, but would not carry it around. I doubt I will make it hunting again this season, but I will try to go one more time if possible. Now I have to figure out where to start today.

Arkansas Hunt Trip

2012-01-20T06:57:00.003-06:00

I was able to go down to Arkansas with Bill this week to hunt some ducks. Here are some random pictures of the trip. This first picture is Bill in the water while I am looking down from the Lake Blind.
Here is a picture of the ditch pit that we started in before moving to the Lake blind. We started hunting around 9:30 Wed morning and we got four ducks down fairly quick. It seemed like the ducks wanted to work the Lake, so we moved to the blind over there.
We shot all teals and shovelers while we were down there and this is a drake teal. Teals are a smaller duck and they are fast, so it was fun trying to get them. We also set up in the buck brush for a little while, but then moved to the lake blind.
Here is a picture from Thurs morning and if you look real close, you can see the geese. There were thousands of geese flying that morning and it was loud with them honking. We tried the lake blind again on Thursday but only hunted til about 8:00 in the morning.
On Wed, we got our limit of 12 by 2:30 and went back to the hotel. We brought back 5 shovelers and 7 teal. On Thursday morning, we only got one duck, but we should have had one more since I missed on an easy shot.
Here is me showing off the limit we got. It was a fun trip and except for ripping my new waders before we even started hunting, I had a blast. Maybe I can sneak off again before the season closes next Sunday.

Lipscomb Basketball

2012-01-17T08:18:00.002-06:00

The family went to the Lipscomb basketball game last night. Hunter was happy to see his cousins there and John Loyd actually let me sit down for about the first 10 minutes of the game.
John Loyd had to go up to the area for the kids and they had the jump house there. He got to jump and toss some kiddie bean bag toss. Hunter got to play with Aubrey and Drew. It wound up being a great game with Lipscomb hitting a three pointer with 3 seconds left in overtime to win by one. We did not see it because we left in the second half. We had to bathe the kids and get them in the bed. On our way out of the game, we saw former Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson and Hunter gave him a "War Eagle" on the way out. Now it is time to get back to work.

Cleaning Up

2012-01-15T06:20:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was a cleaning day for me. I worked in Maddie's room to get it cleaned up and then went to the garage. I have three work benches in the garage, and I had each one full of stuff. I can now see the tops for the most part and the garage is cleaner than it was. John Loyd helped me and he loves running the shop vac. I doubt he will like to clean when he gets older, but he loves it now.
Here is Hunter playing Star Wars on the Wii last night. I am not sure how far in the game he is, but Toni is helping him defeat the evil forces in his game. My attempt to smoke some beef on the new grill was a complete failure. I am going to blame the thermometer since it read 250 degrees the whole time, but after 5 hours, the beef was ruined. I am going to look for a new thermometer and see if that helps. The grill did hold the temps for about nine hours, so when I can figure it out, it will be great to smoke on. Maybe I can work on cleaning the rest of the basement today.

Things in Hair

2012-01-14T06:08:00.002-06:00

Mashed potatoes, fried chicken, blue marker, and no telling what else was in JL's hair last night before bath time.
I tried to take a picture of the damage, but it is hard to see. We tried to stay inside and warm last night around here. The boys watched TV, Hunter was excited because there was a new Star Wars Clone Wars on last night while Toni and I cleaned up some. Today is a busy day running around and I am trying to smoke some chuck roast on the new smoker. I hope the cold weather will let them cook and they will be good. I should take a picture or two of the roasts.

Snow

2012-01-13T08:20:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Middle TN got its first sign of snow this year. Around here, we did not get a half inch, but it did not keep people away from Krogers.
I tried to take a picture of the snow on the deck, but it was dark and my camera phone does not do good with the flash. We are also getting some cold weather and the high today will be 32 degrees. I hope that will get the ducks coming down this way and stay for at least a week.
Here is the Possum that we caught yesterday morning. Hunter liked looking at the possum and wanted me to keep it around for a day or two. I let it go a few miles from the house on my way to work. I am going to set the trap again and see what else we can trap in the field.

Plumbing Fixed

2012-01-12T06:31:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, our upstairs shower started leaking at the drain. I finally got the plumber over here since I cannot do any plumbing without it leaking.
We had to cut a hole in the ceiling in the guest bedroom to get to the pipes and I took a picture of the hole. The bad thing is that we had about 60 years of dust and trash in the ceiling that came out when he opened up the hole. He got everything replaced and the shower is as good as new.
The boys had to help clean up and wanted to use the shop vac. Since they love to vacuum, I will put them to work downstairs this weekend. Now I have to repair the hole this week. On another note, there was an animal getting in the trash next door, so I set up a trap to catch it last night. This morning when I checked the trap, there was a possum in the trap. I am going to relocate the possum and see if that solves the problem.

Not much going on

2012-01-10T07:10:00.002-06:00

There was not much going on around here the last two days. Toni got home Sunday and the boys were happy to have her back. We had a lazy day on Sunday and then went to Life group for the evening. Tucker and Mick spent the night with us and the boys had fun playing with the puppy. Last night I watched most of the National Championship game that Alabama won over LSU. I was not rooting for either team, so I fell asleep before it was over. It has been wierd with the weather being so warm in Jan. Last year, we had a bunch of snow to deal with, but this year it has been in the 50's and 60's so far. I am sure we are going to have a cold Feb once duck season is over. I guess that is how it goes sometimes, but the mild weather has been nice. Now it is time to get ready for work.

Mama Out of town

2012-01-08T05:00:00.001-06:00

Toni went on a short girls trip yesterday, so I had to keep the boys busy. Hunter and me started out by going to the Napier birthday party.
Here is a picture of the party. Mom watched John Loyd, and Hunter had a good time. He played with all of the kids and ate pizza with them. Our life group hosted the party and it was good for the kids to come over to their school and play and eat.
When we got home, I put JL down for a nap and Hunter played Star Wars on the Wii. When JL woke up, we played outside. I have not taken too many pictures of Hunter, so I tried to take one of him, but this is the best I could get. If you are old enough to remember "Where's Kilroy?" that is what this picture looks like to me. We did a little work outside, but we mostly played.
Both boys wanted to swing, so we did that too. We had pizza for dinner, is it a requirement for Dads to fix pizza when Moms are out of town? We had a good evening and bath time was fine for both of them last night. I was shocked that they slept good and nothing crazy happened, because
there was a full moon out last night. Now if we can make it through church and the day, Momma will be back and we will be back to being crazy around here.

Wild Man

2012-01-07T06:42:00.002-06:00

Here is a typical night from last night. After dinner, I went downstairs to watch the football game in the Maddie/Man room. Hunter and Toni were on the Wii, so John Loyd came down and asked "What are you doing?" He then went back upstairs and grabbed a chair from the playroom. He used that chair to climb on a crate next to the paper towels and get two rolls down.
He sorta fell on the crate getting off, but was fine. I have no idea why he wanted the paper towels, but he played with them. When I took them away, he pitched a fit, so I gave him two paper towels from the roll and he proceeded to wipe off the coffee table. You never know what he is going to do. It is a boys weekend with Toni going on a girls trip. so it should be a fun weekend around here if we make it.

New Worker at Office

2012-01-06T07:14:00.003-06:00

Hunter had a checkup at the Doctor after school yesterday, so I had a helper at the office with me. He was wild until I pulled up Fresh Beat Band and Diego on the computer for him to watch.
Does he look like a future executive to you? JL loved picking up the office phone and jibbering into it. I am not sure if he sold anything, but we will wait and see. Hunter did good at the doctor and he wound up getting 5 shots. I was shocked when Toni told me he was in the 75th percentile in height and 85th in weight. We might have to look at a diet for him. Our food bill is going to keep going up. Hunter has eaten a lot of the jerky I made last weekend. I might have to make some more before too long. Now back to work.

Book Review

2012-01-04T06:41:00.001-06:00

I am sure that I have said it before, but I am a big fan of Harlan Coben and was glad to see a new book coming out. This book was about Mickey Bolitar who is Myron's nephew.
I would say it would help to read the earlier books since he refrences them in this book, but I think someone would be fine to just pick this one up and start reading. Mickey's girlfriend has gone missing and he is determined to find her. The plot has many twists and this book is excellent. I literally could not put it down when I got to the last 150 pages or so. I will give it the highest ranking of five stars and recommend it to anyone. What better way to spend a winter weekend than by getting by the fire and reading a great book.

Duck Hunting and End of Weekend

2012-01-03T06:45:00.002-06:00

Sunday after church, we did some cleaning and I wound up lighting the pile of sticks that were in the burn pile. I finally trimmed the limb overhanging the burn spot, so I was not worried about catching the tree on fire. Hunter wanted to roast marshmellows, but that idea faded away and we never got any out.
Yesterday, I got to sneak off on a duck hunt. The cold weather has finally arrived and the wind was good for duck hunting. The only problem is there are not enough ducks down here yet. It was still a good day and we wound up shooting five ducks. There was one duck that buzzed me when I was out of the pit, so I shot one time and dropped him.
There was another duck that got close, and I fired three shots and missed. That is Gump and Jon in the boat looking for one that we shot. I got back home in time to make some jerky that I laid out and marinated. We also had a good dinner that Toni made of some pulled beef on a hoagie roll. Now it is time to start getting back into the work mode.

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T06:34:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Bill, Heather, Hagen, Lizzy, Kenny, and Denise came over to watch the Vandy game and play outside. It was wierd that we pulled a TV outside on New Years Eve to watch the game. Vandy wound up losing, but everyone had a good time. We grilled some duck and wings on the new grill, and also had a bunch of snack food to eat on. I did not ring in the new year last night, but I did get to watch Auburn beat Virginia in the bowl game last night. Auburn played real good, so it was fun to watch.
I have been thinking about doing a year recap or even mentioning how many different animals I had to bury in the field to keep Maddie from messing with them this year, but I will keep it short. It was a good year around here last year. As I look back on the blog, we did a lot this year. Hopefully, next year will be another great year like this year.

New Years Eve

2011-12-31T07:00:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, the weather was real warm for this time of the year, so I left the office with a few hours of sunlight left and we played in the yard. Since we still have the Bobcat here, I took the boys for a ride on it. Of course, we had to sing Bob the builder while we drove it around the yard.
Toni had never driven one, so I let her take a turn on it. I made sure that me and the boys were way out of the way when she drove it. I need to do a few more things with the Bobcat before we have to return it, so maybe I can get that done today. The weather is going to be good again today.
This is a censored picture of JL in the bath last night. He got a Xlyphone (spelling?) that he can play in the bath and has fun banging on that. At least it keeps him from splashing water, so it is a good bath time toy. We are not doing anything wild tonight, and I doubt that I will see midnight. I will get to watch the Auburn game and hope that we can pull out a win tonight.

Building Driveways

2011-12-29T07:19:00.002-06:00

Back in the flood last year, the gravel washed away from the driveway next door and it just kept getting worse. I told Dad that I would help him and we got Jon who has a smaller dump truck and a skid steer to help us.
The boys were excited to play on the skid steer and John Loyd was singing Bob the Builder on the bobcat. It took longer than I thought it would since we wound up using over 40 tons of gravel on the driveway. I should have taken a picture of the driveway and it looks good after we finished. I had just enough daylight left to take the boys outside when I got done and that is when they played on the skid steer.
After dinner, John Loyd treated me to some songs on the drums. He likes banging them real hard and singing while he is playing. Maybe he is going to be the next Phil Collins or something like that. Hunter and Toni were busy playing Star Wars on the Wii, while we were making music. It was a good night around here last night.

Back to Work

2011-12-27T06:26:00.002-06:00

We are trying to get back to normal around here. Yesterday we cleaned up where Santa wrecked his sleigh in our house and all of the toys fell out. We also moved some more furniture and are getting close to getting everything where it needs to be in the house.
John Loyd helped me take Maddie outside yesterday afternoon, and I got a picture of them playing. I cooked a pork loin on the new grill last night and the grill worked good. Tucker, Heather, Papa, and Ganna came over for dinner and the boys liked showing out for them. The one thing the whole family picked up was the crud so I am trying to feel better, but our noses are clogged up. I think that once we feel better, we will be back to normal around here.

Christmas Weekend

2011-12-26T05:48:00.002-06:00

With Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, it has been a long holiday weekend. I am going to recap it and try to hit most of the stuff we did.
On Friday, we went up to Monroe and got ready for the dinner there. We grilled some filet steaks and had twice baked potatoes and salad. It was a good dinner and it started my weekend of eating too much food. During dirty Santa, I got the gift card to Bass Pro that I took. On Saturday, we opened some gifts after a big breakfast.
Hunter and Ava then went to the movies with Ganna, and Toni left with JL. I went with James and the others to this field and we had a skeet shoot. We grilled some burgers and had a good time shooting at the skeet. Some were hard to shoot, but I was able to practice shooting. I did go over to the swamp that morning to see if there were any ducks, but they had left the area.
Here is James shooting an AK during the skeet shoot. I fired the gun, but was unable to hit anything that I was aiming at. It was a loud gun. After the skeet shoot, we went back to James and Gingers for more food and opening more gifts. By the time we left for home, both boys were worn out. They slept on the way home and went to bed when we got home.
Here is the dining room on Christmas morning. We were crazy enough to get JL some drums, and he played them for a while before he even looked at another gift. Hunter got loaded down with Star Wars stuff (light sabers, legos, and characters). They were both real happy that Santa was good to them this year. Another fun gift was the Paper Jamz guitar that Santa brought. We got to play with the toys for a little while then went over to Mom and Dad's house.
We ate another big breakfast over there and then opened more gifts. The boys got a bunch more gifts and they got to play with their cousins. We made it back home in time for a nap. I started trying to find places to put all of the new toys that the boys got this year. It was a great Christmas and like most years, I have no idea where all of the toys are going to go. Both kids are at good ages where they get excited about getting gifts so it is fun to watch them. Now, I have one more day off work to help around the house before we get back to work.

Christmas Lights

2011-12-22T06:35:00.002-06:00

A few years back, before Hunter was born, we started going out and looking at Christmas lights. One year, we took a limo with the family, but we have gone back to just us in the family truckster. We went last night on our annual trip around town to see the lights. It is hard to take a picture of Christmas lights, but I tried at two of our stops.
It was a shorter trip than usual, but we had to keep the tradition going. At least it was not raining last night when we went. It has stayed warmer this year, so I doubt we are going to get anywhere near a white Christmas like last year. Maybe it will get cold enough to bring some ducks down here this year.

Christmas Time

2011-12-21T06:24:00.002-06:00

I know that I have been talking about it, but I still have to finish shopping at some point. We also need to find the time to go look at some Christmas lights around town with the boys. I have finally dried out from the hunt yesterday and when I got home, I cleaned the ducks.
I brought five of them home and cleaned them under a work light last night. We are getting loaded back up on duck meat, so I will have to find a time to cook some of it soon. Now I just need to get through a day or two of work and we will be ready for Christmas.

More Duck Hunting

2011-12-20T15:08:00.003-06:00

I snuck off again this morning to West TN for a little duck hunt. I have been lucky to get to go hunting so many times so far this year. The weather has stayed warm, but I was wishing for a good hunt. It was slow in the morning, and I had to leave after lunch time.
We got six ducks down and I brought them home to clean. The bad thing about being so close is that I came back to work for the afternoon. The first picture is the view out of the pit and the second is a nice drake mallard that we dropped. Now back to catching up on work.

Christmas Time

2011-12-19T08:14:00.002-06:00

We went up to Livingston on Saturday and had some holiday fun. We ate lunch at the Clark house for the Sadler Christmas. The funny thing was that there was a cat there and John Loyd would not leave it alone. We were outside after eating and he kept picking up the cat. At one point he carried it from the parking area back to the porch. I think the cat finally started running away from him. When I went to leave, the cat jumped in the car with us, so I guess the cat liked JL. Hunter got to play with his cousins, so he had a big time. We went back to Papa and Granna's house and played games and visited with everyone. That night we went to another Christmas party and played dirty santa. I got the gift I took, so I was happy with that. After church and lunch on Sunday, we came home and brought Ava with us. I finished the cornhole boards last night and sanded them this morning, so they are ready to go. I need to take a picture or two to get up here, but the kids are getting too fast to snap a picture.

Getting ready for Christmas

2011-12-17T06:17:00.002-06:00

We are heading up to Livingston today to start the Christmas dinners and parties. We are having the Sadler get together today. I was lucky to get my Christmas gift from Toni and the boys yesterday. Here is a picture of the new grill that they got me.
It was way too heavy for her to unload, so I had to unload it from the car. I have not had a chance to cook on it yet, so I am looking forward to that. Of course, I still have some shopping to do for Toni, but other than that, I am ready for Christmas. Now I need to get packed for this weekend.

School Christmas Program

2011-12-16T07:03:00.004-06:00

Yesterday morning, Hunter and John Loyd had their Christmas program over at school. Papa, Ganna, and Po came down for it and it was a good time. Hunter was up front in his class and he was singing pretty good. John Loyd kept his hand in his mouth, but would do his hands with the dance when he needed to. Both boys did good and JL only jumped off the stage once between songs.
Here is another picture of the river flooding in Arkansas this week. I doubt that I can get out and duck hunt again before Christmas, but do not worry, I will still talk about it on here. I do have to get out and do some shopping before Christmas, but I cannot talk about that on here.

Arkansas Hunting trip

2011-12-15T07:00:00.002-06:00

I went on a short trip with Bill to Arkansas this week to hunt some ducks. It was a little warmer than we wanted and we did not see too many ducks on the way down there, so we did not know what to expect.
The club was flooded when we got there and all of the pits were under water. We wound up hunting on the flooded levee with John and two of his clients. It was hard to stay hidden in the trees, but we got a few down before the afternoon. Late in the day, the mallards started flying and we got a bunch of them.
We wound up walking out with 20 ducks and I think there were 9 more that we could not find. It was a harder hunt since we could not sit down anywhere and you were always in water, but it was fun.
Here is a picture of the road going from the cabin to the levee. It was dry in some spots and got about knee deep in others. The ducks had plenty of spots to land if they wanted to, so it was hard to get a group to work the decoys. We set up in the same spot Yesterday morning and there were a bunch flying around us. There were a bunch that would get about 100 yards away and then flare off.
We wound up shooting 10 more yesterday morning and one of the teals was banded. It had been banded 40 miles west of Fairbanks, AK in August of this year. That was about 3800 miles away from where we were. After the morning hunt, we hit the road to head home.
Here is a picture showing the level of the river between the cabin and trailer. It is normally dry ground there with a walk down to the river. We had to find an island to change into our waders when we got there each morning. When I got back, Hunter helped me clean the ducks and he loved getting the blood on him. Maddie and John Loyd were happy that I was home. Maybe I can sneak off to Arkansas again before the season is over.

Building Cornhole and Seeing Camels

2011-12-12T07:00:00.003-06:00

Yesterday after church, we went to lunch with Papa and Ganna over at O'Charleys. John Loyd was wanting to pitch a fit, but he did pretty good for the most part.
When we got home, I started building the cornhole boards. These are not for me, but for a friend that wanted some boards. I am not painting them, but got most of the work done on them. I still have to round off the legs and cut the center hole, so hopefully it will not take that long to finish them. I will also need to sand down some areas that need a little extra attention. Bruce helped me move the old couch into the playroom, so that will help having a place to sit in there. After all of that, we rushed off to church for dinner at Bethleham.
Here is Hunter petting the camel that was there last night. John Loyd was in my arms and would flinch everytime the camel would move. He finally wanted down and then tried to feed the straw to the donkey. We made some crafts, but did not try to stay for the program. It was a busy day and we got a lot done around here yesterday.

Christmas Parade

2011-12-11T06:50:00.003-06:00

We went up to Livingston on Friday night after work for Christmas on the Square. We did not have time to take Maddie to Monroe, so she got to go with us. She was pretty good and did not bark at anyone, but she was pulling me around the square. Hunter gave Santa a big hug and told him everything that he wanted for Christmas and he wants a lot for Christmas. That picture is when we got to Monroe and John Loyd and Annalee were on the tricycle. They could not go far since we were in the basement, but they still wanted to ride.
Here is the mule wagon that we got to ride on in the parade. John Loyd was with us on the wagon and Hunter rode with Ava and the other kids on the wagon behind us. It was cold, but when we were in the sun, it was nice out there. I rode up front with Jeff the driver, and everyone else rode in the back of the wagon.
Here is the view behind us as we were waiting for the parade to start. John Loyd eventually rode up front with us and he wound up falling asleep and slept thru the second half of the parade. I need to look it up and see if we won in the Mule wagon class. We made it back home and went out to Jeremy and Caroline's house for a Christmas party. The boys had fun playing with the other kids and it wound up being a late night. They are still asleep upstairs, but I think we can get them up before church this morning.

Birthday Party

2011-12-09T06:54:00.002-06:00

Hunter had his birthday party at Chuck E Cheeses last night and it was a good time. I think there were about 17 kids there and everyone was running around having a big time playing games.
Here is Hunter in the ticket booth where it blows up tickets and you try to collect them. He had the guys from his class and his cousins there to play and eat pizza and cake. He liked the skee ball and ran around playing all of the games. He got a bunch of new Star Wars gifts and the hex bugs with a track for them to run around on. It was a good birthday for him.
John Loyd fell asleep on the way there and was a little overwhelmed at first. I think that Chuckie might have scared him at first, but he woke up. Here he is riding the bull dozer with Bob the builder. He wanted to just ride that for a while and then got mad when another kid got on Bob. He also loved the skee ball, but he wanted to just hold the last ball. He rode home with me and was asleep before we left the parking lot. It was a fun party and I think all of the kids had a big time.

Hunter is 5

2011-12-08T06:59:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday Hunter! He turns 5 years old today and he is excited about his birthday. He has been looking at the Christmas calendar that we have hanging and counting down the days.
After school today, he has a party out at Chuck E Cheeses with his friends and cousins. John Loyd will be fired up when we get to Chuckie's as he calls it. I am sure that Hunter will get some new toys and fill up the play room. Hopefully we can make it through the party without going bankrupt playing the games. We should have a good time tonight and Hunter will be excited with all of his friends there.

Lipscomb Basketball

2011-12-07T08:17:00.002-06:00

Last night, the boys and I went to the Lipscomb basketball game. Toni stayed home because she had to work on a paper. We ate at the student center and I think I was the only one that ate much. Hunter and John Loyd wanted to run around with their cousins. Sail had back surgery, so Mom and Dad had Morgan, Sidney, and Aubrey with them at the game. We made it in the game and Hunter was playing with them while John Loyd let me watch a little bit of the game. Of course, he sat for long enough and then he wanted to play in the kid area. They had a bouncy house that John Loyd loved and some games. They also had a balloon artist that was making different things. Of course, we popped our first one at the game and Hunter found one outside to bring home. We left with about three minutes left and Lipscomb wound up beating UT Martin by 15. The kids were running around so much, I could not stop and take a picture. It was a good evening, but it is tiring taking both of them by myself.

Duck Hunting

2011-12-05T06:39:00.003-06:00

I got to go down to West TN yesterday morning for a duck hunt. It was an early morning getting up before 4:00, but I rode with Kyle and we got down there in time to get in the pit before shooting time. We had a few ducks leave on our way in, but not too many were there. The sun coming up was pretty neat with all of the different colors bouncing off the clouds.
Here is another picture of the sunrise while looking out of the blind. I do not know if it was too hot or what, but the ducks were not really flying around yesterday. It was in the upper 50's, so the weather was nice to be outside, but not ideal for duck hunting. We wound up getting 6 ducks and ...
Here I am holding my big kill of 2 coots. I took the picture as a joke and thought I would post it on here. My new waders worked great and I had a big time chasing ducks thru the corn field while we were killing time. I shot the coots because I was looking for a different duck and they popped out on me. The weather is cooling off, so maybe more ducks will be on the way and I can sneak off for another duck hunt or two this year. I did make it home in time to play football with Hunter outside before we went to life group. It was a good day and I slept like a baby last night since I was worn out.

Late Night Post

2011-12-03T20:35:00.002-06:00

I know that I will shock people by posting late at night. Yes 8:30 is late at night. I am planning on going hunting in the morning, so I thought I would go ahead and write something. we went to the pancake breakfast at the inner city school and had a good time. I cooked bacon and Toni cooked pancakes for most of the morning. After that, I went to get leaves up at a house we volunteered to help. It was a good day helping others.
When I got home, the boys wanted out, so we rode the cars around the track. It was a boys night because Toni went to Cookeville for a function. We had a good night and ate some pizza for dinner. Now I need to try and get the wild crew to bed.

Furniture moving

2011-12-02T08:22:00.002-06:00

Yesterday after work, I got started on taking down John Loyd's bed and putting the new one up. Ganna got the boys bunk beds for Christmas and since they got here early, we thought we would go ahead and set them up. It is one of those beds with a full on the bottom and a twin on top. Here is Hunter showing off his top bunk.
I got it set up in time for them to sleep in it last night and it went pretty good. John Loyd did cry out that he was stuck and I think he did not realize that he was not in his crib. Toni slept part of the night in the bed with JL for part of the night, and Hunter slept good. Now we have to get rid of the old bunk beds, move a bed and bring a couch into the play room. If anyone who is strong and has free time, please let me know and I will put you to work.

Book Review

2011-11-30T08:23:00.003-06:00

I finished reading John Grisham's new book the Litigators this week. I am a fan of Grisham and usually try to get his book when it comes out.
This was a good book about an Ivy league graduate that leaves his position at a big firm to take a strange journey and wind up working for a small firm. The small firm is nothing like he is used to and it is a very interesting read to see what goes on. I thought it was one of his better books that he has written lately and I would recommend this book to some one needing something to read while staying warm inside this winter.

Wet Weather

2011-11-28T08:13:00.002-06:00

On Saturday I worked on leaves and putting straw down in our beds. Actually, the straw came from Dad's house and I used it in our landscaping. It was a nice day and I had on short sleeves. The reason I mention that is because yesterday, Hunter and I went to the Titans game and the temps were in the 40s and it was raining.
Here is Hunter eating his cotton candy at the game. The rain started again in the first quarter and it pretty much rained the rest of the game. We made it to halftime and then left the game. We rode with Walt and Sidney and I think they would have stayed longer, but Hunter was ready to go. It wound up being a good game and the Titans pulled off the victory. When we got home, we started a fire and warmed up. It was a good holiday weekend but now it is time to get back to work.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-26T06:01:00.003-06:00

We had a good Thanksgiving this year and here is the recap. We went up to Livingston on Wed night after I got off work. Hunter and Maddie rode with me since we had to take two cars. We stopped at James and Ginger's house for dinner and then Maddie and I had to leave. Since the house was clean, she could not go inside and she would not stay by herself outside. We just watched some TV before bedtime. On Thursday, we had lunch at James and Gingers and it was a good lunch. I helped fry the turkeys and then ate a bunch of food. After lunch, John Loyd fell asleep, so I got to watch some football before heading to Monroe.
In Monroe, we had another great meal for dinner and even had a birthday cake for Hunter. Hunter got to play football with Nathan and all of the kids played the dance game on the Wii. It was fun seeing all of them dance and John Loyd really got into like normal.
We came back home yesterday and I worked on some of the leaves around here. As you can tell, the boys wanted to play, so they got to swing some. They also got to ride in topper thru the field when we dumped the leaves. It was a good holiday time and now I get to do more leaves before the rain and cold get here. Today was the opening day of duck season and I will be curious to see how everyone does.

Add TV Repairman

2011-11-23T08:19:00.002-06:00

We have Po's old Samsung DLP TV and a few weeks ago it started making this awful screeching sound. It got so loud, you could not really watch TV. I did some internet research and convinced myself that I could either fix it or break it beyond repair. I finally realized it was the color wheel and ordered one that came in yesterday. Last night, I was able to put the new color wheel in the TV and then had to take it back apart to correct one wire I put in wrong and then it worked. It took about two hours and only cost $70 for the part, so hopefully we can have a few more years with the TV.
I guess my camera on the phone looking thru the windshield will not pick up a rainbow. I feel like I spend a lot of my life at this traffic light and yesterday, when I looked up, I saw a rainbow. Last night before the TV repair, I did fix the boys some pancakes and bacon. They must have been hungry because they kept wanting more. I think they danced some on the Wii before bed, but by the time I got done with the repair, everyone was in bed. Now I need to get ready for some good food tomorrow.

Family Game Night

2011-11-22T08:31:00.003-06:00

I know that the following picture looks like a Male strip dancers, but it is actually Hunter and JL without shirts playing dance party. After dinner, we played the Wii for pretty much the whole evening.
I know that it is not a surprise, but I scored the highest in Dance party. Toni wishes she has the moves that I bust out on the dance floor. We did play some of the sports games and Hunter beat me in bowling. He did good in baseball, but hit John Loyd in the back during a baseball swing. We also tried golf, but it was harder. It was a fun evening playing the games with the family.

Sunday Afternoon

2011-11-21T05:59:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we went to church with Walt and Sail because Morgan got baptised. After church, we all went to eat at CiCi's pizza, because that was Morgan's choice. The kids got to play video games and they ran around the place like wild animals. When we got home, I had to do some of the honey do list and then I built an ugly coat rack to hold my coats. I had coats in many different places and could never find them when I needed one. Hopefully, now I can find my jackets when I want to wear one. It rained most of the day yesterday and it is going to rain today and tomorrow. I still need to work on leaves around here, but the weather is not letting me. Maybe the rain will stop in a few days and then it is going to get colder around here. Not much else going on around here.

Thanksgiving Has Started

2011-11-20T06:43:00.002-06:00

At least it started for us yesterday. All of the Brandts got together for breakfast at Mom and Dad's house. It was a great breakfast and the kids were pretty good for the most part. John Loyd ate too much ham before we got there, and he was not that hungry, but Hunter ate good. I made up for what they did not eat by making sure I met my quota for eating.
After breakfast, we played the Wii and here is everyone dancing to Dance Party. The kids also played Mario cart and had a big time. It was a nice day, so we were also outside for some of the time. After we left, I had to get the mower and then head back over there to help Dad with his leaves. It did not seem like there were that many leaves until I started mulching them and they seemed to multiply. I finally got them done before dark and then the boys got to play outside for a little while when I got back home. Since it is going to rain today, I think we will have to work on the inside of the house.

Tim Tebow

2011-11-19T06:01:00.003-06:00

I will admit that I am a Tim Tebow fan. I got to hear him speak before he was drafted and it was a great speech. Even though I dislike the Gators and could care less about the Broncos, I became a Tebow fan.
It seems like you either like Tebow or hate Tebow. I think he was one of the best college QBs of all time and as an Auburn fan, I was glad to see him leave. I think the reason that people do not like him is because he talks about his faith and lives out his life based on his faith. Why would you not want to root for someone who strives to be a good person. Would you rather read about your players getting in trouble at a strip club or something else? His style of play is not that exciting and it is different from the rest of the league, but it is hard to argue that it is not working. They are 4-1 since he became the starting QB. I think the coaches are doing a great job playing to his strengths and they deserve a lot of credit. I do not think Tebow is going to be in the Hall of Fame one day, but I will still root for him as long as they are not playing the Titans.

Great Evening

2011-11-18T06:27:00.002-06:00

Last night was a great family evening. It was cold outside, so we had a fire going in the fireplace. Hunter liked having the fire and we were able to keep John Loyd away from the fire. For dinner we had some filet mignon steaks and they looked so good, I took a picture of them when they came off the grill.
Toni had some rice and salad to go with our steaks and it was a great dinner. I think the big shock last night was that we got to watch two TV shows together. Usually, we are chasing kids or getting ready for bed, but last night we watched TV. It was a great evening and now we are eating breakfast with the Brandt's tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to a big breakfast and I am sure the boys will be running around crazy.

Rain and More Rain

2011-11-16T06:50:00.002-06:00

It started raining around here yesterday and it is still raining. That has kept us inside for the most part. Last night when I walked Maddie, on our way back to the garage, John Loyd came out with his rain boots on. He was ready to go outside even if it was raining. I was not able to stay up last night, but Toni taped H.K. on the news and I watched it this morning. I knew that he could remember most things, but the news said he is one of two people in the world that has a condition that makes them remember everything. He talked about his first day at school when he was 3 years old. I would go to News channel 5's web site and look at the report if you get a chance. Now I have to get ready for work and Thanksgiving lunch over at Hunter's school.

End of the Weekend

2011-11-14T08:19:00.002-06:00

The weather was real good yesterday, but the wind was howling. After church, I got to watch the first half of the Titans game and they played great. Cam Newton did not play that good and the Titans won 30-3. The reason that I missed the second half was because we went to the open house at Lipscomb and inquired about sending Hunter there next year. All of the Brandt's go there, so I think he will be fine there.
After the open house, I did clean up the fall festival and the bark from where we split the wood. It was a pain cleaning up the bark and it was because there was so much of it. Luckily I have a field next door where I can dump stuff like that. Last night Toni cooked a meatloaf and it was good. After dinner, I had a headache and laid down to watch TV. Tonight I get to catch up on the folding of clothes that are overrunning the laundry room. This picture is from last week when it was colder and JL helped me walk Maddie one evening.

Productive Day

2011-11-13T07:16:00.002-06:00

I had a productive day around here yesterday. I was able to get all of the leaves out of the front yard. I actually did it different this year, by blowing all of them into a big pile and then hauling them to the field. I think it was faster by doing it this way, so hopefully I will remeber that next year. Before I did the leaves, Hunter went with me to pick up some wood and we built the garbage can holder for next door.
By we, I mean both boys and me. Toni had to run some errands, so it was just the three of us here. Luckily, no one got hurt with the saws or falling wood. I was going to put sides on th holder, but since it is going in the back of the house, it should be fine like this. We finished the day by running to Cookeville for a party for Ken. He turned 75 and they had a party for him. It was a good time, but John Loyd was a handful and we had to go to the car and watch a movie. He does like to touch everything that he shouldn't. Hunter did good and played with Ava while she was there. We got home late, so I think everyone is going to catch up on sleep this morning.

Yard Work

2011-11-12T06:43:00.002-06:00

As you can tell, I have not been that good at taking pictures this week. I think we have adjusted to the time change around here. I have to start working on the leaves in the yard today. I also need to build a garbage can holder for Dad next door. he animals are getting in the garbage and knocking it over. It is going to be a short day because we are going up to Livingston this afternoon. I should get at least some of it done today. Hunter and JL are still going full speed and I got home last night in time to have some outside play time while it was still light outside. Maybe I will take a picure or two today.

Parenting talk

2011-11-11T06:50:00.003-06:00

Since the Penn St story is dominating the sports talk stations, that has been on my mind this week. Last night Hunter said something about his privates and I thought it would be a good time to have a little parenting talk with him. It went something like this:
Me: Now you know there are bad people out there and if anyone ever wants to touch your privates, or they want you to touch theirs, you need to tell Me or Momma.
Hunter: I will just kick their face in
Me: Hunter I am trying to be serious, it is not your fault if someone tries that and you need to let us know. Now do you know what to do if it ever happens?
Hunter: (after a pause to think about it) I will kick their face in.
Me: Well, after you kick their face in, will you tell us?
Hunter: OK

I think the talk went pretty good. I hate to say, if he told me that one day, I would want to kick the persons face in also. Good Talk.

Night Time

2011-11-10T06:16:00.002-06:00

I doubt that one day I am going to get a job writing headlines for the newspaper. It was almost a full moon last night and I tried to snap a picture.
Hunter and John Loyd have been coming out with me after work to walk Maddie outside. It is tough with it being dark by the time I get home, but it does not seem to bother the kids. I think tonight might be the first fire night since it is cold today.

Selling Cars

2011-11-09T06:29:00.002-06:00

Since Toni got her new ride, we have put the Old family truckster up for sale. I listed it on Craigslist and a few other sites. So far after one day, I have got 3 emails from craigslist that were scams. The first was someone who was out to sea and could not call me, but wanted to wire money or something like that. The other two want to somehow get my log in for some reason. It is aggravating having to deal with these scam artists, but I guess you have to if you want to sell something. I think this weekend I will put the car in the yard and see if I can get anyone interested. I am sure that I will have more scam artists to deal with before I sell the car.

Titans Game

2011-11-07T06:03:00.002-06:00

Hunter went with me to the Titans game yesterday and we had a good time. We were playing the Bengals and Hunter liked the fly over after the national anthem. It was loud and he held his ears while they flew over.
The Titans played good in the first half and jumped out to a 17-7 lead. Chris Johnson looked like he was finally getting things going on the field. The weather was real good and Hunter was dressed in his uniform again with his helmet.
Since it was a three o'clock game and the time change, it was dark in the second half. I think the Titans play better during the day and we did not do much in the second half. We wound up losing by 4 and it was a game we could have won. We are still better than I thought we would be at 4-4, but we need to get a few back in the win column.

Daylight Savings

2011-11-06T06:04:00.002-06:00

I squeezed in as much work as possible yesterday since we had an extra hour from falling back last night. I wish we would stay on daylight savings time, but it is not up to me
Here is the wood pile and I am almost done stacking all of it. Hunter and John Loyd helped me yesterday and then last night, we went to a cookout and movie for the church group. Hunter and I are going to the Titans game today, so hopefully, we can pull out a win. LSU beat Bama in last nights game of the century, at least this years version. Now I have to kill some time before church this morning.

Stacking Wood

2011-11-03T06:50:00.002-05:00

I need to take a picture of all of the wood we have stacked. I doubt that we are going to run out of firewood in the next two years and I did not even split all of it that we have. That is about all I have done the last few nights is stack wood. JL has been a big help stacking the bark that fell off on the pile. Hunter has also helped stack wood. I should get done this weekend and then get on to some other items on my list.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T08:32:00.003-05:00

Last night was a wild night trick or treating. We went over to Walt and Sail's house and took the trailer and golf cart. We had over 30 people in all and I am not even sure how many kids we had. Topper pulled the trailer and Toni rode in the golf cart.
I tried to take a picture of the kids rushing a house for candy, but it was hard. It seemed like we had kids coming from every angle. Hunter loved getting the candy and even JL liked running up to the houses. At the last house we stopped at, I had to pull John Loyd off the inside stairs. I think he was looking for the play room inside the house. I need to add lights to the golf cart to make it easier to see, but that is far down the list of things to do. It was a fun night and hopefully the kids will not be too tired at school today.

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T06:40:00.003-05:00

Last night we had trunk or treat over at church and there were a ton of people there like every year. The boys got icing on their costumes while eating cupcakes at dinner. After dinner, I had to rush home and get John Loyd's milk and then we were good.
Here is John Loyd in his Mayhem costume. I did not get a picture of Hunter, but he is Captain Rex from Star Wars. JL wanted to play with all of the toys that were part of the trunk areas. The boys loaded up on candy and had a great time, or at least I think they had a great time.
Hunter and I carved pumpkins when we got home. I was shocked to find out that Hunter did not like the inside of the pumpkin because it is slimey. He wanted to do a pirate pumkin and we did a normal Jack O Lantern. It was a full day yesterday and we had a good time. I am going to try and leave work early today and make the parade over in Walt's neighborhood. I know that the boys are excited about more candy.

Split Wood

2011-10-30T06:21:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a day that I worked on the firewood for most of the day. I rented a splitter and went to work on all of the logs that we have.
That is a picture of one of the piles that I made. We got the logs for free, and the splitter was $80 for the day, but I think I have more than $80 worth of wood. Of course before it is over, I might eat $100 worth of Advil to feel better. Tonight, we have trunk or treat at church and I am sure that Hunter is excited. I will take pictures of the costumes and hope that they look good. Now if anyone wants to come help stack the firewood, just let me know.

Fall Colors

2011-10-29T07:02:00.002-05:00

Even though it is starting to get cold outside, it is nice with the trees putting out the fall colors.
The tree in the background is a bright orange with some red in it. I guess we can enjoy the leaves before they all fall and become a chore to get out of the yard. The boys put on coats and hats and came outside after work yesterday to play. Today I am going to try and split some firewood so that when it gets cold, we can have a fire or two in here. Maybe it will go smoothly today and we will have plenty of firewood.

Writers Block

2011-10-27T06:07:00.003-05:00

I have been busy, but not anything fun to talk about. The weather has been good and we have been playing outside, but it looks like the cold is on its way today.
Right now, temps in the 50's is cold to me. That is a picture from Florida last month when we were down there. We are purchasing James' Tahoe for Toni today, so she is excited. Now I have to get busy selling some of the fleet of junkers that we have. That is about all that is going on right now.

Party Weekend

2011-10-24T08:43:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning, I had to drive all over town to take pictures of some houses. I took the boys with me because we were having the house cleaned. For the most part, they were good.
We did take a detour to Bass Pro Shops and here are the boys looking at the fish in the aquarium. I picked up a few things and Hunter wanted a toy gun that cost $45, so he got a bag of candy instead. After running around all morning, we loaded up and went to Livingston. We went to a birthday party for Nathan in Monroe and there was a hayride and bonfire. It was a good evening out there and it got pretty chilly that night. I was lucky to miss the Auburn game since we got beat by LSU.
On Sunday after church, we went to lunch and then to a party for Blaine. They had a bunch of kids there and John Loyd slept thru the whole thing. Hunter had a blast playing with the older boys. We did not stay for the hayride and instead came on home. It was a busy two days and now it is time to get back to work.

Long Week

2011-10-20T09:42:00.003-05:00

Since Toni has been down with the recovery, I have been running around getting kids to school and trying to work. Yesterday, Mom took JL for the day and I took Hunter to school and then back to the office.
Even though it was very chilly yesterday, the ice cream at Baskin Robbins was too tempting for Hunter. He loves the bright colors of sherbert and got some rainbow type scoop. We should be back to normal in a few days and maybe I will catch up some then. We just need Toni to get back to normal and the boys can use her as a play toy again.

Updates

2011-10-18T07:08:00.002-05:00

It has been busy around here lately. We had a big time with the cookout and pumpkin decorating on Sat. I think we had almost 60 people here and everyone had a good time. We had two cornhole tournaments and they were a fun time since I won the first one. I cooked a bunch of duck and every bit of it got eaten.
Hunter and Hagen smashed a pumpkin after decorating it, so the kids had fun. I did get to watch part of the Auburn victory over Florida. Sunday, Hunter went with me to catch up on some work at the office. I ran to get my hair cut and he had to get a hair cut too. Papa and Ganna were down here so the kids had a big time with them. Yesterday, Toni had surgery on her sinuses, so she is down for a while. I get to take the boys to school today and pick them up, and keep them off Toni. It is a challenge, but I think we can manage it.

Getting Everything Ready

2011-10-15T06:17:00.003-05:00

I do not have a picture today, but we have been busy getting the house ready. We are having people over today for a cornhole tossing, pumpkin decorating, chilli eating good time. Ganna and Ava came down on Thursday and they have been a big help. I got the yard cut last night and need to finish a few things out there today. I also need to finish cleaning Maddie's room downstairs. The leaves are starting to get real bad around here, so it will not be long before I am dealing with that. We did get to go to Bill's graduation from the fire academy yesterday. That is about all that we have been doing this week.

Occupy What

2011-10-13T09:37:00.003-05:00

I was going to write a post about Occupy Wall Street, but I was not sure what to write. It is the right of Americans to protest, but I am not sure what the protest is about. I like this dude's signs and found them at the following website. http://occupyherbstreit.tumblr.com/

Birthday Weekend

2011-10-10T06:01:00.002-05:00

Toni had a birthday this weekend and we went up to the lake. We took the boat out to the point and tied up on the shore. The lake was not crowded and it was a good time for everyone.
The kids spent most of the time skipping rocks and flirting with getting in the water. The water has cooled off and no one was brave enough to jump in. The kids got in about waist deep and I think that was enough for them.
Maddie was brave enough to get in and she swam both days. We had a camp fire each night and just enjoyed almost having the lake to ourselves. We watched football on Sat night and everyone had a good time.
We were tired by the end of the weekend and Maddie went to sleep on the jon boat. Maybe we can make it back down to the boat before it gets too cold for the winter.

Random Florida Pictures

2011-10-07T06:27:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures from Florida last week. Not much else going on here.

Maddie Playing

2011-10-06T08:10:00.002-05:00

We got some new tennis balls out for Maddie last night and she had a big time chasing them around.
I think Hunter was trying to catch her in this photo. We just played in the back yard until dinner time and then it was bath and a little TV before bed. The big surprise was that Toni got a Wii for her birthday and it was delivered yesterday, so Hunter and her got to play the Mario Cart game. I took JL upstairs for Fresh Beat band, so we did not play any last night. It is an interesting morning because JL came to work with me before school. It looks like the video kept him occupied for about 3 minutes, so I need to see what he is destroying now.

Eating Veggies

2011-10-05T08:17:00.003-05:00

John Loyd likes to still go out in the garden and eat whatever is left on the tomato plants. Last night you can tell that he parked the Gator at the garden and got out to eat.
I had walked back to the house to do something with Hunter and I then went to get JL. He started driving back and I then found out that he ate a pepper. I am not sure what type of pepper it was, but it was burning his mouth. I took him inside and gave him about a half gallon of milk to soothe the burn. I think that he might stay out of the garden after last night until I can get it cleaned out. Hunter gets to go on a field trip today, so he should have a good day at Gentry Farms.

Nice Afternoon

2011-10-04T08:19:00.002-05:00

It seems like fall is coming quickly around here. The last two afternoons, it has been nice in the 60's and we have played outside.
I was able to snap a picture of the boys on the swings last night. It was hard going back to work after a week off, but I made it thru the day. It will be interesting to see how the boys do today back at school. I got to watch some of the baseball playoffs last night and it was a great game between Detroit and the Yankees. Verlander was throwing some nasty stuff on short rest and it was fun to watch. Now I have to try and catch up from last week.

Sunday Rest

2011-10-03T08:55:00.001-05:00

After church, we went up to lunch in Livingston and then got Maddie. She was excited to see us and would not quit jumping up on us. Here is a photo of the ride home when everyone but me was catching up on some sleep. Even Maddie was sound asleep.

Back Home

2011-10-02T06:23:00.002-05:00

We made the drive home yesterday. We left after eating lunch and got home around 7:30 last night. The kids did pretty good in the car considering we were in it for a long time. Here are some more pictures from the trip.

Last Full Day in Florida

2011-10-01T06:46:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was our last full day down here in Destin. We went back out to the beach in the morning and it was another real pretty day.
Here is Toni and Hunter digging in the sand just waiting for John Loyd to come stomp on it. We tried to body surf, but the waves were just not high enough. Hunter liked it when I would push him on the board, and John Loyd liked falling off the board. After lunch and nap time, we went back to the pool for some more swimming. Hunter is getting good at diving and he likes to show it to others. We swam for a couple of hours and then got ready and went to the Destin Seafood festival.
The boys got tickets for the blow up toys, but John Loyd would not get on this one. I am pretty sure that he was afraid of the big elephant sticking out of the front of this one. The festival was like a fair with seafood and we walked part of it. It stretched out for a long way down the harbor and there was a good crowd there. Everyone was tired so we left fairly early and Hunter fell asleep on the way home. While I was watching TV, I heard the fireworks and had a great view from our balcony. Hunter was still asleep, so he missed them and John Loyd was watching dragon tales and he did not care for the fireworks. It was a great vacation and I hope to come back here again. We got lucky with the weather and the boys are worn out. Now it is time to start packing and get ready for the long ride home.

Another Busy Day

2011-09-30T07:41:00.002-05:00

After waking up and waiting for it to warm up a little yesterday, we went down to the pool. The boys swam for a little while and then we moved over to the beach. The weather was awesome and the waves were not that rough. Toni and Hunter tried to make a sand castle, but John Loyd thought it was fun to destroy the castle. I do not remember the water being this clear down here. When we got done playing, we came inside for lunch and nap time.
Hunter and I went back to the fish market for some shrimp and scallops. We grilled them and put them on a salad for dinner. We went back out crabbing last night, and Hunter was the only one to catch a sand crab. John Loyd just likes walking in the sand with his flash light. I am sure we will have another good day today.

More Vacation

2011-09-29T06:32:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we had a stormy day down here. I tried to take a picture of the storm clouds rolling in. We did have a window of a couple of hours in the afternoon when the sun tried to peek out, but other than sitting on the balcony and running some errands, we stayed inside yesterday.
When you keep these wild boys inside they start climbing on furniture and stuff. Actually, in this picture, Hunter is working on a jigsaw puzzle, and John Loyd is standing up on the chair watching the TV. We had two blue herons that were by the pool all day yesterday. One sat on the railing and the other one was walking around the pool and sticking his head in the water.
This one is from the other night at the Back Porch. Toni and Hunter sure look small. We went to Destin Ice and picked up some Trigger fish and grilled them for dinner. They were good and not too fishy for me. We also had a baked potato and some grilled squash and onions. Even though it rained, it was still a good day. The weather is going to be nice for the rest of the trip.
Here we are getting ready to go into the Auburn game last Saturday. The boys look good decked out in their jerseys.
Here is John Loyd taking a nap in my arms during the game. He was not asleep for too long.

Another Great Day in Florida

2011-09-28T06:56:00.002-05:00

We had another fun day down here yesterday. We hung out around the condo for part of the morning and then got ready and went to the outlet stores. As you can tell from the first two pictures, I found the playground area and the boys were ready to abandon the shopping and go play for a while.
I am not sure what Toni got and I am a little afraid to ask. Actually, it looked like she picked out a few things for the kids. Hunter must be a thug because he was excited to get a stocking cap with a skull and bones on it. He is now ready for winter with his new hat. We had lunch at Pompano Joes and it was real good. We had an appetizer of Regga Rolls and they were excellent. I had the fish tacos and had to share one with Toni. They were also real good and I was stuffed.
After naptime for JL and running errands, we were ready to head down to the pool. Toni was finishing up some work, so I took both boys with me to the pool. They got to swim for a while and we got back right around sunset time. I had to take another picture of the sunset from our balcony last night. We picked up some fresh shrimp from the seafood market on our errands and grilled them last night for dinner. They turned out real good and we had a salad with our shrimp. I think I might gain a few pounds this week.
Since I promised Hunter that we would go crabbing, we went out last night. All four of us went and looked for crabs. We only saw one big crab and it was too fast for us to catch. We might have to drive down the road in the next night or two and see if we can catch some sand crabs. It was another great day in Destin.

Florida Day 2

2011-09-27T08:08:00.003-05:00

We had another good day down here yesterday. Toni had to run to the store when we got up, so me and the boys just watched some TV while waiting for her. The picture is the view off the deck in the morning. I walked down to the beach before everyone woke up and the jelly fish were everywhere. When we got ready, we went down to the beach and the boys had a big time. John Loyd loved playing in the sand and Hunter kept wanting to go out farther in the water. We saw crabs, fish, and jelly fish swimming near us, and everyone avoided getting stung by a jelly fish.
After lunch and nap time, we went down to the pool for some more swimming. We went back to the pool that the boys like and swam for a while. Hunter is working on diving in and he is getting good at it. The weather was perfect in the mid 80's and it was nice to get in the pool to cool off.
Here is the sun setting over the lake and gulf on our way back to the condo after swimming. We went to dinner at the Back Porch last night and I ate a great meal of chargrilled Amberjack and Toni had the Shrimp and Scallops. We had plans to go crabbing last night, but after a full belly and a long day, we pretty much hit the bed when we got back to our place. I have promised Hunter that we can go crabbing tonight, so hopefully, I will make it out there.

We made it to Destin

2011-09-26T04:43:00.003-05:00

I was active with the camera yesterday and I posted some of the pictures. It is easy to blog when you are doing something fun as opposed to just going to work.
We tried to act like rock stars and trash our hotel room yesterday. The boys tested the beds by jumping on them numerous times and they seemed to hold up fine. We had breakfast at the hotel since I am a big spender and it was free. It was actually pretty good and you could make your own waffles there. The funny thing is that when we checked in, a bus from the University of Louisiana Layfette rolled in and I thought it was going to be a big party and loud at the hotel. The bus held the womens soccer team and I would bet that we were the loudest people there by far.
I took my standard picture driving over the Mid Bay Bridge into Destin. The drive down was not too bad and John Loyd slept most of the way. We had time to kill before check in, so we went to eat at Fudpuckers and look at the alligators. Since John Loyd had been in his car seat for pretty much two days, he would not sit down and eat. It was fine because they have a play area for kids and I ate so much free breakfast that I was not that hungry. I had a cup of Gumbo and ate some of the calamari that Toni ordered.
Here is Hunter showing off the view from our balcony. The place where we are staying is a condo building surrounded by nice beach homes. We picked a good week and it looks like it is not that crowded around here. Hunter and I slept on the fold out couch, while Toni and John Loyd got the nice king sized bed. Even though it is a one bedroom condo, we have plenty of room for the four of us.
After getting everything, and I mean everything out of the car into the condo, we put on our swimsuits and went to the pool. There are two pools here and we went to the one more designed for kids. It is a walk in pool and it only gets five feet deep in the deep part. We ate dinner in last night and watched some kids shows before bed. That about sums up our first day. I am sure we will hit the beach soon and have more pictures. John Loyd loves sand right now, so the beach should be interesting to say the least.

Auburn Football Game

2011-09-25T05:50:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we started our journey south. After stopping a few times to get everything we needed, we were on our way to Auburn for the football game. We checked in the hotel in Montgomery and dropped our stuff off and then drove over to Auburn. We tailgated with Justin and Kelly and the kids and then made it into the stadium.
Auburn was playing Florida Atlantic and it should have been an easy victory. Hunter was excited because it was his first Auburn football game. We stayed in the stadium until the second quarter and then John Loyd decieded it was time for us to leave. He does not like sitting still for that long, but we had a good time while we were there. Auburn wound up winning by 14, so that was a good thing. I hope to take the boys to some more Auburn games, but I need them to get a little older where we can sit and watch the game. Today, we get more travel time as we head to Destin for the week. I am looking forward to the vacation and it should be a good time.

Personalized Hot Wheels Car

2011-09-21T08:02:00.007-05:00

As part of a promotion with HotWheels and MomSelect, I got picked to get a free customized HotWheels car if I would do a review on it. It was fun sitting down with Hunter and picking out the different designs and uploading a picture for the car.
The picture on the car is Hunter holding a different HotWheels car. I think he had it in his mind that he needed to be holding a car to have his picture on a car. You can add text down the side of your car and we picked Auburn Tigers to add to the back sides of the car.
Hunter has the world's largest collection of toy cars (that is not confirmed, but I estimate it to be true) and it was neat getting a personalized car with his picture on there. You can even pick out different packaging if it is for a birthday, Christmas, or something else. You can go to http://www.hotwheelscustoms.com to start designing your own car and you and your child will have a fun time.

Book Review

2011-09-20T09:33:00.003-05:00

We got the new James Patterson book last week and I finally finished it last night. It was broke down into five sections and like all of his books, it was a fast paced suspenseful book.
I have yet to read a James Patterson book where I would not recommend it to others and this was another good book. In my opinion, it was not his best book, but I enjoyed reading it. I think that I get used to the series of books and this was a stand alone book. I will give it four out of five stars and I enjoyed reading it.

Golf Tourney and Titans game

2011-09-18T16:52:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the 4th annual Cody Lisby golf tournament and we had a good time. It was me, Jones, and Kenneth and we rotated the 4th shot and wound up 5 under. We did not come close to winning anything, but I was worried that we would not shoot under par. The good news is that we raised $10,000 for a family that really needs it right now. Today, after church, Hunter and I got to go the Titans game.
Here is Hunter outside the stadium and he was suited up ready to play. He even wore his cleats to the game. We played the Ravens and it was a great game. We were tied at half time and wound up winning by 13.
As you can tell, Hunter wore his helmet even during the game. We rode to the game with Mom and Dad in the convertible with the top down. Hunter liked riding in the car without a roof. It was a great day and the Titans had a great victory.

Family Fun Night

2011-09-17T07:02:00.003-05:00

Last night we had a fun night out on the town. We went to the Dog of Nashville and had a great meal.
I took a picture of the Dog because when we got there, Hunter wanted to know who's house we were eating at. It took a minute or two to convince him it was a restaraunt and not someones house. I had the Coney Island dog and Toni had a pizza dog and they were both great. I know that I have said it before, but if you want a hot dog, go get one there.
After dinner, we went over to Dragon Park and let the kids play for a while. John Loyd did not want to leave, but we finally got him to the car. It was a nice family evening last night.

X marks the Spot

2011-09-16T08:34:00.002-05:00

Last night while playing in the yard, I looked up and the sky looked like this.
I guess it was a bunch of planes that had flown by and it looks like an X up in the sky. We played outside and the weather was perfect last night. I grilled steaks over charcoal last night and they were real good. After dinner and baths, Granna and Papa came down for the evening and spent the night with us. John Loyd got to show off his dancing skills while we watched Fresh Beat Band last night. Hunter was excited to sleep in his tent even though it was in his bedroom. One day I will be brave enough to sleep outside with him in the tents.

Outside People

2011-09-14T08:22:00.003-05:00

The afternoons have been so nice around here that it is hard to go inside when I get off work. Last night, we played football in the back yard and Hunter walked a lap or two with Toni.
The boys were too quick to take a picture, so I tried to get them on the swing. We had a good dinner on the deck and after watching John Loyd spread yogurt on his corn cob and then eat it, we had to go straight to the bath. JL gets the day off from school and Hunter is with me at the office waiting to go to school. I take him on Wed each week and we get to get a lot of things done at the office before school. Now I need to get some work done.

Football is Here

2011-09-13T05:49:00.002-05:00

Since football has started again, it is dominating my TV viewing in between the Fresh Beat Band shows. Auburn looked a lot better and now is at 2-0, the Titans did not look that good and lost their opening game. My fantasy team got a win in week 1, so that was good.
Here is a picture of the backyard from this weekend. The sun was hitting the clouds and giving them a pink tint. I do not think it shows up on the picture, but I did not have any other pictures. Today starts week 2 of school and I am sure the boys are ready to get back into school with their friends. Not much else going on here.

Party Time

2011-09-12T08:03:00.003-05:00

Saturday we watched a bunch of football and Auburn had a great victory over Mississippi State. It came down to the last play of the game and Auburn was able to stop them. We also watched UT win and Vandy win and ate some great ribs that Toni fixed. Yesterday after church, we headed up to Livingston to visit with Papa and Granna before the party for Aiden.
At the party, I was on John Loyd duty and he found the battery operated vehicles. He liked the pink jeep and even let Annalee ride with him for a while. He also drove the gator and wanted to ride a bike.
They had a jump house at the party and JL and Hunter spent a lot of time in there. It looked like rain a few times, but it held off for the party. I managed to keep JL out of the pool, because I did not want to swim with him. Hunter got to swim and both boys slept on the way home. I think the party wore them out.