Poo

Our neighbor Jennifer had a clogged sewer main, so we rented a large motorized 100' drain snake to clean out the obstruction. Everyone was very excited about the whole operation!

The excitement quickly died down once they saw (and smelled) the exact process.

Chandler and Ian ran the motor control, and I guided the snake into the pipe. For the most part, everything went smoothly. After we had despensed of all 100', we started reeling it back in. I didn't think it had actually done anything, but when the end came out of the pipe it had what looked like a mop head on it! The obstruction was clear, job done, and we even got the rental back early for credit. I'm sure I impressed everyone with my "I'm Bringing Nerdy Back" shirt.

Game Night

We play a lot of board/family games, and the kids finally started playing Lego Creationary. Very fun! You pick a card and what is on the card you have to make out of legos. Then you hope it resembles it enough that the other people can guess what it is. The kids had a great time playing it, though the legos can get messy.

Pierced!

We have told both girls that they can get their ears pierced when they want to. Today, Emily decided she was ready! At 6 years old, most of her friends already have their ears pierced.

We went to Claire's to have it done. Here, she picks out the earrings she wants, "Crystal Rainbow Daisies"

They pierced both ears at the same time. It was a little scary, but the results were worth it: earrings!

Yay! Our little girl is growing up!

When Keighly was asked about piercing her ears, she replied "Grrr."

The BIG Phone

While wandering in the mall, we noticed this HUGE OVERSIZED LG Quantum, the same phone Incredi-Mom has! Very surreal to see it that large and functional.

Tuxachanie Hike

What a beautiful day! We decided to hike the Tuxachanie Hiking trail in Stone County. Unfortunately, we got there late! There were tons of people there. We had two guests, Keighly's friend Rebecca, and our neighbor Jennifer. We all started out fresh and ready to hike the 5miles to the Airey Lake. BUT- daylight was runing out, so at 4.5 miles we had to turn back! We STILL haven't seen Lake Airey yet! At the end, we were all POOPED!

Above is a slideshow, hit the full screen button in the lower right after it starts playing.

The Library Tower

We visit the library often, as it is right around the corner from our house. On a recent trip, asked about the tower and were told that it had just recently opened! Here is a pic from the top looking back toward our house.

Another Day in Paradise...

Solved!

After YEARS of speculation, Keighly solves a longtime question!

Happy Birthday Lyons!

Happy Birthday Mari Alis, Max, and Lillie! We enjoyed a great jungle-themed party with inflatable slides and bouncers, a monkey (Curious George?) pinata, pizza and cake, and good fellowship!

PCS Williamsburg Day 2011

This year, I "volunteered" to help with Williamsburg day at PCS. I manned the 'fire', where we simulated how they used to cook biscuits on an open flame. This was probably as far from the actual way they used to do it, but the kids had fun. The students would come out five or six at a time with a buscuit wrapped around a dowel. I would have them slowly rotate the dough over the flame while it slowly heated and browned. Then they would take it back in and put a little butter and/or jelly on it and eat it. Fun! Some (larger) kids wanted more than one, some kids couldn't take the smokey smell, some kids whined that it was taking too long, and some kids didn't want their biscuit touching anyone elses biscuit. Incredi-Mom snapped most of these pics as she helped inside with the corn-husk doll station.

Above is a slideshow, hit the full screen button in the lower right after it starts playing.

Dog Fishing

The Incredi-Kids decided to use some cane fishing poles with floats to try and tease the dogs as they were on the trampolene. Unfortunately, their lines got tangled and the dogs pretty much ignored them.

Cowboy Day!

Today is Cowboy Day for the Kindergarteners at PCS! Emily is ready, sans hat. Luckily, Incredi-Mom borrowed a pink cowgirl hat to finish the outfit. Today they get to ride a horse named Peanut!

Happy Valentines Day!

The Incredi-Kids get their Valentines Day cards ready for their classmates. Cards and sweets, here we come!

Space Tag!

The Providence Children's committee took the kids to Space Tag in Ellisville for their Valentines Day party. Everyone had fun!

Above is a slideshow, hit the full screen button in the lower right after it starts playing.

Blue Dog

Emily learned about the Blue Dog art of George Rodrigue and painted her own Blue Dog!

Sealing The Tank

I have had many problems with Harvey the RV's whole fuel system. I decided to permanently fix the gas tank so it would never rust or have any problems. I used KBS Coatings tank sealer system. The only problem: the tank is so big (40 gallons!) it is not easily handled to swish all the liquids around to clean and seal. I ended up creating two 'caps' for each end of the tank, and put a floor flange with an 8" 3/4" pipe sticking out so I could rest the whole thing on a pair of saw horses. Like a giant rotisserie, this let me slowly rotate the whole tank around and get to all the corners and edges very easily.

A Rock In My Shoe

The playground at PCS has several inches of pea gravel on the ground. Everyday, Ian and Emily come in with quite a collection of pebbles in their shoes. They pull their shoes off and pebbles fall all over the floor. How can they walk around with all these rocks in their shoes?

The Cone of Shame

We have had problems with MJ scratching and biting. She scratches ALL THE TIME. She bites so much that she has worn her teeth down. Plus, slobering all over herself makes her stinky. We decided to try an E-Collar from PetSmart. The collar goes on easy enough, and MJ was receptive as long as she was getting attention.

However, it quickly became apparent that she did NOT like the collar. While she is not scratching, she is also not moving. She sits there with her head low and just looks at you. I think she is giving us the 'guilt' trip and feels like we have betrayed her or are punishing her. Hopefully she will realise that she can still do all the things she normally does, just not bite and scratch.

First Place!

Wow! We are so proud of Keighly! She got first place in the 6th grade science fair in the 'microbiology' category. Yay!

Keighly's project was "What Location at PCS has the most Bacteria?" She swabbed several locations around the campus, then grew the bacteria in petri dishes. We observed the growth and took pictures over 17 days to determine which place had the most bacteria. What place had the most bacteria? The Toilet! Shock!

Look at that medal! Science! (Thumbs up by Emily)

Testing The Cone

Keighly tests the "Cone of Shame".

Giving Blood

Incredi-Mom gives blood regularly and has the t-shirts to prove it. I have never given blood yet, but tonight would be the night!

Yay! Look at that excitement!

"You will feel a small stick".. Yup, that's what I felt alright.

Once the blood starts flowing, it fills a bag under a digital scale that keeps it in motion so it won't congeal. Some others had problem filling their bag, but I filled mine in no time! Take that people with thick blood!

Yay! I'm bleeding! The glove they gave me to squeeze had one finger that would raise everytime I squeezed it. Somehow that seemed wrong, like I was giving them the finger or something.

I filled my bag in record time!

We are still waiting on the results to see what blood type I am and my cholesterol level.