Playin' in the outdoors

We got a small taste of spring the last week. It was 50 degrees today and they say we are still 15 degrees below average. After seeing the weather over the last 3 weeks up north, I'll take 50 and sunny any day of the week. Too bad for y'all in Michigan! We spent today outside enjoying the sun. The kids decided to rake my quad trail. Cody has been riding the dirt bike on it but there are large rocks and many limbs to watch for. I did get to bid on another job this week and I am going to bid on painting the inside of our church this week. So far I haven't had any calls to actually do the work. I believe work and the economy will be much better this year. Here are some pictures from today.

Here's I am with Becca riding on the quad.



Cody and Carrie raking the trail. They spent hours out there. I don't think they know just how big 85 acres is until you have to rake it!





A campfire sure makes all the difference. There is just something fun about having a campfire. Carrie was really excited about the fire, she said it was like camping only we owned the entire campground. The kids hauled firewood for a few hours over the past 2 days while Sandra burned it.



I introduced Cody to an axe. He got a good workout chopping a couple of logs into smaller logs. After a while I broke out the chainsaw to show him how to work smarter not harder. Of course, maybe this is why so many people are overweight these days! Makes you wonder...is it really smarter?!

Looking forward to Spring

It was 63 degrees and sunny today. It was a nice change from the last two weeks. It's been decent during the days, usually in the mid to upper 40's, but just below freezing at night. Our weather is definitely improving. Birds are out everywhere. The kids got a chance to break out the four wheeler and dirt bike the last couple days. They love to ride. Sandra's parents were here for a day last Tuesday. They were on their way to Florida to visit friends. The kids had fun visiting. It's only been 6 weeks since we last saw them. Doesn't seem that long to me yet. I'm still checking out leads for work. I have a job to bid on Monday, so hopefully I can get some work this week. We kind of put the pole barn on hold for a little while, just until work picks up and gets a little more consistent. We have to be frugal with the savings we have. I don't want to spend money that we need to pay bills with on home improvements. The kids are doing good in school. They are looking forward to spring. Six Flags over Atlanta opens March 6. It's basically like Cedar Point. They are looking forward to a trip to Atlanta. Maybe we will take a trip over spring break.


The kids celebrated the first 100 days of school with a small party. Here's a couple of pics. Sandra's mom brought a lot of goodies for the kids. I think they have enough to last them until Easter.

New Plumbing

Sandra says we need to make some home improvements around here so I'm thinking about doing some plumbing. What do ya'll think?



Actually I think she was referring to finishing the pole barn. It rained all day yesterday and today. The driveway coming up the hill is really slick and I was not able to pull my work trailer up the hill last night. My truck and trailer are stuck on the hill at least until it dries up later. I worked in Huntsville this week for a couple selling their home and they had a lot of small repairs that needed to be done. So right now I'm sitting here in the camper while the kids are doing school. Maybe it will dry up later and I will get my truck unstuck. We need water and my truck is the only way to get it up here right now. Still no word from the lawyer about the utilities. We are supposed to get rain throughout the next week, but the temps are in the 50's. It's better than SNOW!

Update

I wasn't sure what to title this post since I really haven't made any progress up here on the mountain. That's not to say that we haven't been busy. Sandra is still teaching the kids everyday and I did get a roof job last week. I have been out around town trying to find some new work. I gave a few bids but haven't heard back yet.
We got a letter from my neighbor's lawyer the week we returned informing us that we did not have the right to run utilities from the road up the easement. So I had to hire a lawyer to see if we can settle this little dispute. I'm not sure what her problem with us is, but she seems to have a thing for us. My driveway is only a legal easement across her property for entering and leaving our property. When it was originally written it should have included utilities, but someone made a mistake. We may have to go to court to ask a judge to grant us permission to install utilities. In the meantime, we are checking into other possibilities.
We are supposed to get some more rain tonight into tomorrow. The temps have been great the last two weeks. It's been between 45 and 65 degrees during the day. We also started a new life group last week. We are looking forward to getting to know some new people from church. Many of them workout at the same gym that I do and I get to see them on a daily basis.
I did finish the roof on my pole barn and now I have to finish installing some windows and the door, then I will start on the siding. I hate starting any work on it when I don't get more than a couple of hours at a time to do anything. When I do have a day or two, the weather doesn't cooperate, like today and tomorrow! Sandra is telling me that the television has to go off now so she can get started on school. I have to go into town and get some more propane, hit the gym, rent some movies, stay out of Sandra's hair for a while.

Kickin' off the New Year

Roll Tide Roll! Alabama kicked Texas' butt for the National Championship a week ago. If you don't follow football, that's ok cause I don't either. But when in Rome....or I should say Bama, you follow football. Since we don't have a pro team we follow college ball. We got back home on Sunday and it has been an extremely cold two weeks. Our lows were down around 20 degrees at night. Tomorrow it's going up to 60. I winterized my pipes before I went up north for the holidays and I'm lucky I did. I did not expect it to get below freezing but it did and a lot of people had problems with freezing pipes. My water pump did spring a small leak and after messing around with it I was able to fix it. Sunday my generator went out. Fortunately, it was under warranty and I got it replaced on Monday morning. Not a lot works around here without electricity. We use propane to heat so we are ok there, nobody froze to death.
We continued to work on the roof of the pole barn. Sandra and I finished the front yesterday and started the back today. It's difficult and slow moving when working with no extra help, but I have more time than money right now. We have to save anywhere we can. I received a letter from my neighbor's attorney when I got back and apparently my easement (driveway) does not allow for utilities. She is not being very cooperative in this area. I had to hire an attorney today to see if we can make some headway with her. We have other options if she really stands firm on this issue, but running utilities to my property along the easement is the easiest option for me, not to mention the least expensive. This lady has had a thing for us since we got here. Actually, the seller had issues with her before I purchased the land. The lawyer thinks if we had to go to court I would win, but it might be easier to just run them another route, maybe get permission from another neighbor.

Craziest Christmas Ever!

This has been one of the craziest Christmas' ever. Aaron started the week out with an unexpected trip to the ER and was admitted for two days for dehydration. He was released on Wednesday. He is scheduled to have surgery on January 4. His daughter, Evelyn, was sick with a stomach bug and was vomiting constantly. Then on Christmas day Sandy, Aaron's wife, and Nathainel were both sick and vomiting constantly. I had a stomach ache all day but managed to fight it off without any other symptoms. All three of us spent Christmas day/evening laid up in bed. Later that night Cody woke up vomiting all over the carpet and had diarrhea. Today Carrie and Becca both started vomiting and are currently sleeping it off. Cody slept all day Saturday and is feeling fine today. Whatever it is, it seems to be a 24 hour bug. And last but not least, my mom fell at the bottom of the stairs on Christmas day and fractured her leg. She and Jerry spent almost the entire night at the ER. Here are some pre-sickness pics.

Still Working on the Pole Barn

I was awakened this morning at 4 a.m. by the sound of heavy rain pounding on the top of the camper. It has not stopped since and I think it's going to continue throughout the day. Yesterday we got our delivery of steel roofing for the pole barn but not until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we only had enough daylight to unload the steel. I was really hoping to get the roof on before we head back to Michigan for Christmas. We are planning on going back on Sunday. The weather is not being very cooperative today. I might have enough time Saturday to get most of the panels on and install the trim when I get back. Here are a few more recent pics.