Archive for September, 2009
My wife is awesome!
This weekend we went up to Council Bluffs for a quick trip to celebrate a birthday. While up there, we ran across a box of old basketball cards that my wife used to collect. That’s right, I said my wife used to collect basketball cards!
It’s what she said next that makes her the most awesome wife in the world. She said, “we should get a Beckett catalog to see what they are worth.” Not only did she collect cards but she knows what a Beckett catalog is! I used to be a big baseball card fan and have boxes of them in storage. Its so awesome knowing that my wife shared in a past time that I once loved as well! She rocks!
Put a fork in me.
Sitting at dinner last night, I leaned back in my chair after cleaning my plate and stated
“Put a fork in me because I am done”
My youngest looks up from her plate of spaghetti, drops her fork, and says:
“Are you serious?”
To which I explained that I was not serious but rather repeating a very old quote about being really full. She picked up her fork and said, “well that’s good”.
Its been 6 months!
Today marks our 6 month wedding anniversary. Its hard to believe that its been 6 months already! Where does the time go? The last 6 months of our marriage have been awesome and it makes me even more excited to see what the future has in store for us. Thank you to all of our family and friends that have blessed our lives.
An even bigger thank you to my wife for everything she has done to make the last 6 months perfect!
Bad Dream
My youngest daughter came into our room at around 3am this morning complaining of a bad dream. I calmed her down, brought her back to her own room, and proceeded to lay on the floor until she fell asleep. A little while later I was back in my own bed ready to fall back into that wonderful slumber. To my surprise, she soon was sleeping next to me (and stealing my covers)! I brought her back to her own bed where she stayed until the morning.
At breakfast there was some small talk about the nightmare she had that night. I did the usual consoling that parents do and everything was ok.
After dance practice tonight we were driving home and I got the entire story of the nightmare. Here is how it went.
“T”. I had a bad dream last night. Want to hear about it? So I was painting with Buddy. You know Buddy. Buddy is Alli. Well me and Buddy were painting these animals for my art class. They were really huge! Well they came to life and they were really scary! That’s why I kept getting up last night. I was scared of the animals we painted.
So there you have it. My A-ism of the day.
Ashley’s Blog
Ashley has her first post up on DandelionBlessings.com. Her knack for writing is truly amazing and her first post on how she came up with the blog name definitely doesn’t disappoint. Head on over there and give her a shout-out. Then bookmark the page because she has some great ideas coming and you are definitely not going to want to miss them.
Making a ladder
Currently our two daughters are sharing a bedroom. Its a decent size room but they have a lot of stuff. Even with bunk-beds, we find ourselves searching for wall space for bookshelves to help ease the mess. One of the biggest culprits we have is the ladder that leads to the top of the bunk bed. Its one that comes out a good 4 feet from the bed in order to provide a safe way for a young child to climb up.
My oldest is now 7 and I figured it was about time she was able to climb a vertical ladder without problems. So I set out to make one…
During lunch one day I headed to my local Lowes and grabbed the following materials:
- 1″x3″x6′ Aspen (2)
- 1″x3″x4′ Aspen
- #6 1-1/2 inch screws (8)
- Total cost = $14.80
I started out by cutting the 6′ boards down to 5′. This gave me an extra foot of board to use for a ladder rung. It also reminded me of why I need to put a Miter Saw on my Amazon wish list this year. Using a heavy circular saw for everything is not ideal (see picture)
After cutting the 5′ pieces I decided that it would be safer and more secure if I was able to notch out where the rungs would be attached to the rails. I proceeded to lower the depth of my saw,clamp down the pieces of wood and draw out my rung lines. I then took a few swipes at the area with the saw, breaking out the remaining pieces and using my dremel to make it all smooth. By they way. Every man should have a dremel. Best tool ever. A tablesaw would have been a much better tool for this task. Amazon wish list. Check.
After getting my rung notches perfect, I cut out a few more 1′ pieces from the remaining 4′ board that I bought. I only needed 3 but I ended up with 5. I took the 3 that had the straightest line (see above picture of my great cutting) and proceeded to sand them down.
After all sanding was complete, I assembled the rungs to the rails using small pilot holes to prevent splitting. (a tip I learned from my Dad years ago at a 4-H meeting. See Dad. I do listen!) Once the holes where drilled, I grabbed a larger bit in order to be able to sink the screws below the surface without damage to the wood (another tip from Dad). I screwed the entire thing together, put on the bunk-bed clamps and brought it upstairs to try out.
The girls loved it and I am pretty proud of the end result myself. It took about 3 hours total, spread throughout the day.
My Kids Like to Party.
This weekend was spent cleaning and organizing the house. Something we have wanted to for some time now. While sitting around with my youngest. This is the conversation that was had.
A – “Dad, I think we should get a doorbell on the door to our room.”
Me – “A doorbell? Why do you think you need a doorbell?”
A – “Well now that our room is clean, we are probably going to be spending a lot of time in there. What if we are having a party, a small party not a big party, and someone knocks on the door and we cant here them. I think a doorbell would be good so we always know when someone is there.”
Me – “Honey, as great of a thought as that is, I don’t think you need a doorbell on your door.”
A – “OK, dad. You’re the boss.”
Truitt’s Cave Mystery
About a month ago my buddies and I went on our annual camping float trip. Along the way we ran across this neat little road side attraction that looked like it had all but been forgotten. It took some convincing but I manged to get my friends to pull over so I could snap a few pictures. The place was pretty run down with everything being boarded and locked up. I was able to get a few pictures through the windows but there really didnt appear like there was much to see. It looked like a big rock room that went around in a circle. It was cool looking but didn’t look like anything more than a cheap tourist attraction.
A few days ago a ran across the pictures and decided to Google the attraction name: Truitt’s Cave. I was amazed at what I found. Turns out the cave was discovered in 1929 by a man named John Truitt who happened to discover 6 other caves in the Ozarks area. Truitt’s Cave opened to the public in 1940 and had 60 years of life under its belt before it closed in 2000. It was purchased by new owners in 2002 and remained open for another 2 years before being closed and put up for sale once again. In fact, for a mere $375,000 dollars, you can buy this gem off of craiglist! Click Here for the Ad.
Here is a little bit more information that I found regarding this mysterious attraction.
TRUITT’S CAVE
Featured in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” Cave restaurant of yesteryear, with Underground River, Trout Reservoir, Root Canal Wall, Underground Geode, Endangered Salamanders and many rare formations. Learn of John Truitt, “Caveman of the Ozarks” who was the discoverer and developer of six area caves. Visit the Rock Shop, where amethyst, onyx, crystals, fossils, etc. are available. Walk down Waterfall Lane, Cross the Cedar Bridge, and pan for golden goodies at Truitt’s Frontier Flea Market, or just bring a lunch, and enjoy the Picnic Area. See one or all of three caves. Price Range $4.00-$6.00. Call for off season schedule. Have a super safe summer! 417-436-2299. Source – http://www.ozarkcaving.com/comcaves/truitts.htm
After seeing this, I really wish we had a better means in which to explore this forgotten memory. I would have loved to been able to go deep into the cave to check out its wonder. But, alas, boards and locks kept us away. Maybe someone will buy this one day and return it to its 60 year glory.
Kid-ism’s
A-ism
On the way to school this morning I was trying to have a conversation with my youngest daughter. After repeating myself 3 times I got fed up and told her that she needs to clean the wax out of her ears. The following conversation took place.
A: I don’t have wax in my ears.
me: I shouldn’t have to repeat myself three times when I talk to you. If you don’t have wax in your ears then why is it that you can’t hear me when I am talking?
A: Don’t know Dad. Guess its just part of life.
So young and already setting herself up for a life of ignoring Dad. sigh….
T-ism
Walking through Wal-mart last night before an eye appointment, my oldest daughter asks me this question.
T: Dad, how many days have you been alive?
Now I could probably sit down and calculate it out but I thought it was a pretty funny and random question. Most kids ask in terms of years. “How old are you”. This is the first time I was asked to break it down in days. Guess I should work on an answer for her. She would get a kick out of knowing. I wonder if I need to account for leap years in order to obtain true accuracy. Hmm…This could be harder than I thought.
Tooth Fairy
The tooth fairy made another visit last night. Second trip this week for the youngest (once by me and once by her Mom.) She lost this one with a little help from dear old Dad. She was trying to eat corn on the cob and noticed some blood on it. We went to the bathroom and after a little persuasion, she let me grab it and pull it out. Didn’t cry. Not one bit! She made me proud.
Every time the tooth fairy makes a visit, I am afraid it will be its last. I am afraid one of the kids will see me sneak in or out and put two and two together or I am afraid the other kids at school will let them in on the “secret” and the fun will be gone for them (and me). Being a kid is awesome and my girls are the most awesome. They have that innocence that only a kid can have and to hear them talk about mythical beings makes my heart melt.
In relative terms, my time as the Tooth Fairy may be short lived but I will do everything in my power to walk softly and make sure that they enjoy this time as best they can. Sweet dreams girls.