Green Thumb

Yep, after taking a year off my orchid decided to bloom again. Must be the magic of neglect! Made me happy to see it again though so I just had to take a picture for everyone to ooohhh and ahhhh over. Pretty amazing eh?

A follow up to an earlier blog. I hired a young fella to help me with the landscaping. He had previously dug up all the sod and now we had to get dirt to build the flower beds. It took 3 yards of dirt (2 pickup truck fulls) and lots of shoveling but he and I managed to get it done pretty quick. It took us about and hour and a half. Course I won't be able to move tomorrow but at least the hard part is done. Now I just have to find some good plants and get them in.
Doesn't it look nice?

Bill and Earl dug this whole trench today. It is knee deep and about a foot wide. Ugh. Here Mickey took Earl's place after he had to go. Thanks for all the help Earl. I am not sure he will ever come back after that terrible job. I guess Bill thought he had to replace the water line from the house to the garage because it was made out of that bad PVC stuff. He still has about 6 or 8 more feet to dig. I guess we will be hiring Mickey some more.

WARNING

Bill may look innocent enough on the roof but beware.....
...if you come to the house he will put you to work. It was nice for me to have a gopher substitute for a little while.
I sure hope he can get out of there. I'm glad I just had to hold the ladder. Bill finished putting all the roof vents in today.
The neighbor caught Rick peering in a window and she didn't see Bill's car so questioned him about what he was doing there. He told her he was looking for his brother-in-law then she noticed the car so she was ok with it. She later phoned me apologizing for questioning him. She said she saw a bald chubby man looking in the window and thought he might be up to mischief. Rick was not too happy with her description of him and decided he didn't like our soon to be new neighbor. Haha
This picture is for you Faith. It is my wonderful apron front kitchen sink. Let me know how you like it.

YAHOO!!!!!!

Today was a wonderful day for the Nagel family. Adam passed his Contractor licensing test today. We are so excited. Bill and I kept the boys overnight and his test was this morning down in Macon. We texted Lauren and when he came out of the testing center he gave her the wonderful news and texted us back with it. So we just had to get a move on and find a way to celebrate. Here's the boys after helping me put up our signs.

The very happy new Contractor!!!! Isn't he just so cute?
Adam with his proud mother.
The celebration should have included Lee's name as well since he had a wonderful interview in Tennesee and is certain they are going to offer him a job. He loved it there and he loved the people in the department. So anyone that voted for Tennesee should be grinning too. I think I will go buy myself flowers or something. Bill and I couldn't be happier with all the kids good news.

Shocker!

Yes, this is actually Ricky, not Kojak or Ace Ventura or any other number of celebraties. I nearly fell over when he walked into the house. This was definitely blog worthy. I have to admit it kind of grew on me in the course of the day. I was completely shocked to find no horns under all that hair. He may not have to use shampoo but now he has to use sunscreen.
Rick and Sandy enjoying a beautiful day in Georgia on Lake Arrowhead.
Jaysen and Seth just loved the boat ride and the fishing even if we didn't catch anything. It was such a fantastic day.
Jaysen, Rick and Seth concentrating hard on their lines. We hated the day to end. They are all coming back on Friday to hang out with Jackson and Maddox too. Can't wait to see them all again. It was a fun day.

Lake Fun

Little Seth got right into it with his fishing pole. He nearly went overboard on one occasion and fast acting Billy saved the day. Rick said he was preparing to jump right in after him. Now that would have been pretty funny, kinda wish I could have seen that but not at Seth's expense.
Narry a nibble. Didn't stop Jaysen and Rick from trying though.
Now you would think a Minnesota girl would be a bit tougher then this but Sandy proved to be a weeny when it came to the cold on our trip back to the dock. I have to admit, it was a bit chilly but come on, Minnnesota? Georgia? I don't think there is much comparison.

Drum Roll Please

My first project from my pottery class. I am not sure what it will be used for but I am becoming a master at this particular thing. I guess it could fit a bunch a q-tips... who knows but unless I figure out how to do something different from this you will all have identical Christmas gifts this Christmas! Haha.
I have decided to give my first piece to someone in the family but I will not reveal the lucky recipient until my class in complete and we get to see some of the 1st things and compare them to the last things we do. (I am hoping there is a difference!) Now I know you will all be anxiously awaiting my decision on the edge of your seats but you'll just have to wait. If you are not the chosen one, don't dispare, remember, I told you I have become an expert at this particular container.
My sod removal efforts. Ugh, tuckered me out.
Just a basement shot for posterity. Bill has been crawling around down here of late for the plumbing. He is getting quite accomplished at the GI Joe mode of house remodeling.

A Woman's Best Friend

Never under estimate the value of a good plumber. Let the games begin, Bills favorite job? the plumbing has begun in ernest. Now you can tell he is not a REAL plumber or you would be able to see his cracked hindy. So we have to settle for a cracked plumber of a different sort. Hard to tell which end is which but the pipes look good.
We were so fortunate to have some welcomed help this Saturday. Earl Mecham lent a hand for a good part of the day working on some vents for the heating and air. It was slow going but a big help as Bill could concentrate on some other projects.
Bill and another wonderful helper, Jim Cairns dug this pipe line from the house to the street to replace old and bad pvc pipe. We have to have it inspected before they can fill it back in. In the mean time Jim worked on some other plumbing details under the house. It was nice and cool down there. It got to be in the 70's today and in the sun it got pretty hot while they were digging. I started digging up the sod under the flower boxes so we can do some landscaping there. The sod is impossible to dig up once it turns green. The zoysia grass is beautiful but a bugger to move much later. I didn't get a whole lot done before I realized I had met my match. I called Mickey Crow and hired him to do it. He got it done in 1/4 of the time it took me. So I worked on stripping my doors. Grandma, where are you when I need you? I am just about finished the 2nd door. 2 down, 2 to go. UGH! I ran out of stripper and course sand paper (thankfully!) Five hours of work today was more then enough for me. I'm a weenie I know but I am out of shape from the soft winter.
Jim hard at work. It was so nice to have a little extra help. I know Bill was so grateful. These guys will be sore tomorrow. Hope we didn't scare them away for good. Jim said, "and I thought I took on big projects...!"

Just had to add these two pictures. Adeline was thoroughly enjoying her spaghetti...
...until the clean up at least!

Well hello everyone. Anna and Strattons move to North Carolina took them through Mississippi for a visit with the Wades then on to us. They ended up stuck with us for a few days since their truck was stuck in Chicago with the bad snow storms that hit there. We took advantage of every minute and had so much fun with them here. We are back to normal around here now after a wonderful visit with Anna and Stratton and Adeline, their move to NC and our trip home again. It was so good to see them all and of course we needed some pictures of our little Adeline. She was so much fun, I could just eat her up. Course thats how I feel about all 7 of them but she was on the dinner menu this time. Haha.
Just had to take a picture of my birthday balloon that Emily Christensen gave me on Dec 22. The balloon lasted for 6 weeks! I couldn't believe it kept afloat that long. The next day it was on the ground.
This little stool enthralled Adeline. She carried it around and sat on it and climbed on it. She was so funny with her little discovery.
Got into Meme's cabinet and found a funnel, or was it a horn?

We arrived in Charlotte in the late afternoon on Monday after being delayed in Atlanta. The truck was stuck in Chicago in the terrible storm there so the kids waited it out for a few days with us. Now that was hard to take! So when we arrived in NC the landlord stopped in and got the kids all situated and we then waited for the truck. It got there in the early evening and Bill, Stratton and Anna started unloading it while I watched Adeline. It was a tough job for me but someone had to do it. The hearth is just the perfect size for Adeline to back into and sit down. She loved sitting there!
The drive to NC went really well and Adeline did good too. Bill drove our van, Stratton drove the new Volvo, and Anna and I drove the wagon with Adeline. It took about 4 and a half hours to get there but we stopped for a good break at one point. I think it would normally be a 4 hour drive under most circumstances. Color me happy, it sure beats the trip to Utah.
The move was terrific. I can't say enough about ABF's You Pack. Anna said they were so nice in every way and it cost so much less then a u-haul. They dropped the truck off, we unloaded it, Anna called them and they picked up the truck the next morning easy schmeesy. Not to mention that they didn't have to drive a truck across the country in the dead of winter. It would have taken them forever since they hit really bad weather in Texas. Even in a car they had to drive 35mph much of the way due to ice and snow.
Piled stuff everywhere like a typical move. We managed to get it looking pretty good by the end of the next day. Anna got the kitchen and Adelines rooms done first then she started tackling the rest. She made short work of it and they are so lucky to have a good storage space in the attack. Lots of stuff went up there! By the time we left on Thursday morning it was looking like a nice comfy house. Can't wait to go back and visit and see the rest of it shape up. I know Anna and Stratton will love their new little house.