Cedwryck plays the iPad. With natural and fluorescent light.
Daniel was standing in front of me, trying to look at my phone when he activated the camera. I thought this was cool, and pretty clear considering the low light and the close proximity.
Sunday, 12 January 2014
pics from my phone
Cedwryck plays the iPad. With natural and fluorescent light.
Daniel was standing in front of me, trying to look at my phone when he activated the camera. I thought this was cool, and pretty clear considering the low light and the close proximity.
Samsung Note 3
Samsung Note 3 (or is it III?)
I may have mentioned a few times that I got a new phone.
It's not just "smart" - it's top-of-the-line, which is a little
unusual for me. I usually try to get by with the minimum, and cut costs
wherever it won't cut service. But when we started thinking about getting a
smart phone, I narrowed things down to 4 phones, one of which was the Note 2.
Then Black Friday came, and T-Mobile put the Note 3 on sale for $100 less than
list price. Comparing the specs, Note 3 blew away the competition. The Google
Nexus has the same size processor and is cheaper, but it, like the HTC One, has
a non-removable battery and no memory upgrade. Samsung's phones have both of
those life-lengthening features.
The stand-out feature of the Note phones (and tablets) is
that they come with a built-in stylus. Yeah, you can buy a stylus for other
touch screen devices, but Note is made for it - there's a button on the
"pen" that activates certain features, and it has an alarm if you
walk away from the pen. You all know how old I am, so it won't be a surprise
that I grew up writing notes, not typing them. I still find it more natural to
jot a note than to type one out, and often have to be reminded to use the
computer/printer instead of pen and ink. I enjoy the physical sensation of
holding a well-crafted pen (similarly, I prefer a paintbrush to a roller). But
anyway, this is about the phone, not me. :D The point is that I like to pull
out the pen and write my grocery list on my phone. I was so sick of losing
well-thought-out grocery lists! Now it's on my phone so I better not lose it!
Besides that, I can select text and move it around, so I can jot down each item
as it comes to my attention, and then organize the list by store when we are
ready to go shopping. It also recognizes handwriting, so I can convert it to
text, or even write down a phone number and then have the phone call it.
Another distinctive is the size. It's actually classified as
a "phablet" - a phone/tablet hybrid. It looks ridiculously large when
put next to an iPhone or most of the cell phones around, but is still smaller
than a home phone in height and width, and of course much smaller in depth.
This can be either a plus or a minus, depending on taste. I personally don't
mind the height of it - I think it's handy when a phone reaches to both ear and
mouth - but think it's a little wide when using as a phone. For non-phone use,
it's great!
The size of the screen enables another bonus feature -
"multi-window". A number of applications can be opened in a portion
of the screen while another app is running on the other side. I haven't used
this a lot, but it is handy when I want it. For instance, I could be watching a
video and look up something online at the same time (or write a note). There
are several ways to take a screen shot, and then save, edit, or even write on
it. It has voice activated Google-powered search that can search the internet
as well as the phone itself (for tags I've put on photos or saved images or
documents, as well as document content).
Of course there's the standard features like front and rear
facing cameras, texting, phone calling, internet browsing. The main camera is
13 megapixels, but as people with real cameras know, the sensor size makes the
difference, so it's not much better than an 8 MP would be. It does take
super-high definition videos, which are pretty nice. Text is easy to use; my
complaint there is that the spell check doesn't like me to use texting
shortcuts like gr8 or tmr. This is fine with me, but I worry about people with
small phones who need to receive short texts. The first call I made was to my
Dad, who said it sounded like I was calling from "next door." I
haven't talked a lot on it, but am satisfied with the volume and quality of the
calls. It came with a browser, and I soon downloaded Firefox as well. On the
phone, I can't tell much difference between the two as far as form or function
go.
Being an Android, it has much more to offer than an Apple.
We do have an (original) iPad, so have dealt with Apple and the iStore. With
Apple, the store shows you the top 5 - 10 apps of the day, and it is no end of
trouble to try to get past that into the thousands of available apps. If you
know what you want and search for the name, you can find it, but browsing is
impossible (for me). With the Google Play store, each "top" category
has 500 apps in it, which allows for a lot of browsing. There are multiple ways
to browse, and of course the search function as well. Then there are other
stores: I have looked in Amazon's app store a bit, and Samsung has their own,
but I didn't like it much (too much adult content).
I have downloaded a few apps: games, maps, navigation, star
charts, guitar tuner and chord teacher, phonics and math games, my bank, my
favorite stores (see their sale flyers and get coupons)... I can send pictures
directly to my computer (without even telling it to), print to my home printer,
view and edit .doc and .pdf files.
Compared to my old flip phone that I had with AT&T pay
as you go, the sound is better, the numbers are easier to access, and there are
tons more options, It's also WAY more expensive, and I have to charge the
battery every 2 days instead of every 10 days. Funnily, the battery is better
than the phone thinks it is. At 25% power, my app that sends my pictures to my
home PC stops running. At 15% power, the phone starts warning me of low
battery.
Compared to the iPad, everything is better except the
location of the power button - it's just opposite the volume "rocker"
and I tended to squeeze them both at the same time (I have trained myself to
not do that anymore).
Wil has mentioned that his new phone is slower than his home
computer for internet browsing, but at home we are limited by our provider
rather than our computers, so all devices run the same. In town, where I can
connect at 4G LTE, it is amazingly fast. I downloaded a program before the
little progress bar even popped up. But my plan does limit how much I can use
the 4G speeds, so at home I connect (and even call) over my wifi network.
I tried once to download some music from my computer to my
phone via a "cloud," and it worked but took hours. Then Bob went
"duh" at me, and I bought a memory card. I stick it in my PC and
download songs in just a couple of minutes, then play in my phone straight from
the card. So while it may be "nice" to be able to download or share
files wirelessly (as Apple does exclusively), it is much "better" to
have a memory card.
Not sure what else to say... I used my own photos (from my
Facebook account) for my "lock screen" and my "home screen"
backgrounds. I set a password on my lock
screen rather than the default swipe to unlock, because I have children. Phone
calls bypass the lock and can be answered by a swipe. Notifications show up on
a bar at the top of my screen, and swiping down from the top allows me to see
details of the notices, and take action right from there (for instance, if
someone comments on my Facebook post, I tap on the notice and it opens up the
Facebook page). I bought a screen protector that's supposed to be impact resistant,
and a leather-look wallet thing that has a plastic case for the phone to snap
into, and a magnetic latch on the front cover. I hope that these will lengthen
its usable life (I didn't opt for the protection plan offered by T-Mobile).
These opinions are (obviously) my own; no one asked me to
write this or will pay or(I hope) prosecute me in any way for saying what I
did.
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Gearing up for Christmas
Gotta gripe - Blogger no longer lets me log in and write from my own page - I have to go to my "home" page on blogger first. But anyway...
We are getting things in motion (I hope) for the holidays. Tomorrow is church, including a musical program and lunch, and Monday we go to my parents (if the ice melts!), getting home just in time for Christmas, when we will go next door for a family dinner. So today we did a LOT of baking. :)
Pancakes for breakfast, two bar cookies, two candies, snickerdoodles, dinner (including the best roast potatoes), dressing... And I'm proud to say the kitchen is less messy than when we started this morning. I'd done sweet potato casserole, a cookie, sausage balls, and bread roll dough previously. My fridge and freezer are both bursting at the seams. :) I am nearly, but I've been trying to control myself, and have officially lowered my own maximum weight by 10 pounds. (Thanks, Wil, for the inspiration. Eventually I'll do better.)
Occasionally I'd sneak out of the kitchen and wrap presents. We aren't going overboard this year (I think), partly because we couldn't think of much that we needed, and partly because we'd spent already on the home improvement sector. My phone is my present, and I suppose the air compressor is Bob's. The children are all getting new socks, and a couple other items that we'll talk about later.
It rained last night and all day today, flooding the garage - well, that's a strong word, but it did require a little work from Bob this morning. Oklahoma got ice, but we were rain, staying just above freezing all day.
Gina the dog has been doing well. We walk her, but not a boy alone because they get impatient, and then let her loose to play. She loves to run! She will run out into the pasture, but won't stay very long, and is always happy to come running back. She's learning a few commands, and *I think* the boys are learning to be patient and kind with her (she's very submissive and needs lots of encouragement).
Work on the living room is going along slowly, as Bob has been working for other people. Also, we've been having some trouble with the van. As mentioned on Facebook, Bob had to replace the fuel regulator thing that first went out a couple of years ago, leaving us stranded at Lowe's. We've learned to recognize the signs, and change it about once per year. But it is still sluggish going uphill, and doesn't like to shift from 2nd to 3rd. Also, the driver's side headlight - the whole assembly - goes dim when the lights are brightened. So there is that.
I'm playing with my phone a lot, and really like it. I plan to do a full review when I feel like I know enough about it to do so.
We are getting things in motion (I hope) for the holidays. Tomorrow is church, including a musical program and lunch, and Monday we go to my parents (if the ice melts!), getting home just in time for Christmas, when we will go next door for a family dinner. So today we did a LOT of baking. :)
Pancakes for breakfast, two bar cookies, two candies, snickerdoodles, dinner (including the best roast potatoes), dressing... And I'm proud to say the kitchen is less messy than when we started this morning. I'd done sweet potato casserole, a cookie, sausage balls, and bread roll dough previously. My fridge and freezer are both bursting at the seams. :) I am nearly, but I've been trying to control myself, and have officially lowered my own maximum weight by 10 pounds. (Thanks, Wil, for the inspiration. Eventually I'll do better.)
Occasionally I'd sneak out of the kitchen and wrap presents. We aren't going overboard this year (I think), partly because we couldn't think of much that we needed, and partly because we'd spent already on the home improvement sector. My phone is my present, and I suppose the air compressor is Bob's. The children are all getting new socks, and a couple other items that we'll talk about later.
It rained last night and all day today, flooding the garage - well, that's a strong word, but it did require a little work from Bob this morning. Oklahoma got ice, but we were rain, staying just above freezing all day.
Gina the dog has been doing well. We walk her, but not a boy alone because they get impatient, and then let her loose to play. She loves to run! She will run out into the pasture, but won't stay very long, and is always happy to come running back. She's learning a few commands, and *I think* the boys are learning to be patient and kind with her (she's very submissive and needs lots of encouragement).
Work on the living room is going along slowly, as Bob has been working for other people. Also, we've been having some trouble with the van. As mentioned on Facebook, Bob had to replace the fuel regulator thing that first went out a couple of years ago, leaving us stranded at Lowe's. We've learned to recognize the signs, and change it about once per year. But it is still sluggish going uphill, and doesn't like to shift from 2nd to 3rd. Also, the driver's side headlight - the whole assembly - goes dim when the lights are brightened. So there is that.
I'm playing with my phone a lot, and really like it. I plan to do a full review when I feel like I know enough about it to do so.
Saturday, 7 December 2013
addendum
more dog info:
They were back the next morning, and two of our chicken tractors had been broken into and 8 hens were dead and mostly eaten. We decided to take Duke back to the shelter, where they all loved him and said they'd take him back.
This morning Naysha walked Gina, and when she went to put her back in the pen there was a misunderstanding with Bob, and both dogs got out again.
We tried to keep our ears open, but the first thing we heard was Gina barking at the rabbit. When Bob went out to catch her he saw Duke eating more chickens. All of one tractor (3 good layers and our only rooster) are gone. Bob restrained hisself and put Duke back in the pen.
(Yes, I said hiSself. It makes grammatical sense. Think about it: her shelf, his shelf; her self, his self.)
Come Monday, Duke will be taking a ride in the van.
They were back the next morning, and two of our chicken tractors had been broken into and 8 hens were dead and mostly eaten. We decided to take Duke back to the shelter, where they all loved him and said they'd take him back.
This morning Naysha walked Gina, and when she went to put her back in the pen there was a misunderstanding with Bob, and both dogs got out again.
We tried to keep our ears open, but the first thing we heard was Gina barking at the rabbit. When Bob went out to catch her he saw Duke eating more chickens. All of one tractor (3 good layers and our only rooster) are gone. Bob restrained hisself and put Duke back in the pen.
(Yes, I said hiSself. It makes grammatical sense. Think about it: her shelf, his shelf; her self, his self.)
Come Monday, Duke will be taking a ride in the van.
Friday, 6 December 2013
Happy Holidays
Yes, it's been a week since our most American of holidays - Black Friday - but I'm finally getting to it. ;)
It all started the Thursday before Thanksgiving, when the Lighthouse of Faith Mennonite Church had their annual community Thanksgiving dinner and choir performance. We planned to go, so I had the boys start out early to walk the dogs. A little sooner than we expected them back, Cedwryck came back alone, with some out-of-breath story about the dogs getting away. So I took off and met Riah where he was trying to go into the woods. Turns out Ced needed to pee, so he asked Riah to hold his dog (Gina, a black and tan girl) while he went into the bushes. Riah proceeded to tie his dog (Duke, a big tan boy) to an electric pole so he could hold Gina. Well, he noticed Duke managed to get free of his tie, and in the excitement and trying to catch Duke he let go of Gina, and both were away into the woods. The worry here was that Gina was wearing a leash attached to a choke collar. Duke had his halter and leash.
Well, we called and spoke to the man at the nearest house, and went on to the dinner. Over the next few days we put up flyers, contacted the shelter, went door-to-door, and walked in the woods looking and calling. We also prepared to go to Bob's cousin's house in Branson for the family get-together.
On Thanksgiving day we went to Branson and spent a nice day with Bob's family. Everybody was together for the first time in 3 years. The cousin has a nice, HUGE house (3x the size of ours) and everybody was in a good mood. The food was good and plentiful, and the TV didn't stay on too long. After supper we made our exit and checked into a hotel. Because of a misunderstanding, we ended up with two rooms and split boys and girls+Daniel. We drove around the main drag, checked out some folks standing in line for store openings, and got fresh doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, then went back to hotel for baths. Daniel didn't want to go to sleep, but finally settled down in my bed about 11:30.
Friday morning we had breakfast in the hotel, featuring toaster waffles and the worst coffee ever made, during which a family with a show there in town came in, sang a song, and handed out flyers for their show. Then we went out for more sightseeing. The lakeside walks and fountains were accessed from Bass Pro Shop's parking lot, but with the shoppers out there was a line just to get in the parking lot. So we passed on that. We did go to one shopping center where I hit a Corelle/Pyrex/corningware outlet and Bob checked out a tool store. I got some mixing bowls and a storage set.
Then we headed home, where, when I opened my door to step out, there stood Duke! I didn't see him until I opened the door. He seemed very glad to see us and wanted lots of petting, then went to bed and slept the rest of the day. He still had his harness and leash, though the handle of the leash had been cut off. He had not lost weight. The boys assumed it was over for Gina and so were very sad.
After looking over Duke and unpacking the car, we went to Springdale. Bob got a DeWalt drill set at Lowe's, we looked at air compressors and cell phones in 3 stores, got a new leash, a sheet set, and granola bars. Then back to Lowe's for the air compressor.
The next couple of days are kind of a blur. Oh, I remember! I spent 2 or 3 days online, looking up cell phones and price plans. Finally decided on one and they wouldn't sell to my address. So tried again with MIL's address, and the third time it went through. :) But by then the phone was backordered and I'm supposed to get it Monday, but with this weather it'll probably be delayed. I got a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, with a pre-paid plan from T-Mobile. I'll let you know how it goes.
Yesterday we got a call from a family that had Gina. Bob went to their house, over 2 miles away, and Gina came to him when he called. They had picked her up off the highway, still wearing her choke collar and leash, and were feeding her. She was dirty but fat, and SOOO glad to see Duke. We were in shock that both dogs made it home - besides the leashes, it is deer season and the folks tend to shoot first and ask questions later.
Today Bob and Ced walked the dogs while Riah and I fed them and the chickens and it began to sleet. A few minutes after they got back, Riah decided to go into the dog pen to pet them, and they got out. Haven't seen or heard from them since. I'm trying to not care too much. I love dogs, and have always had one, and have always done my best for them, but these guys just don't want to be here, I guess. Maybe we need to let go a bit and view them more as barn cats.
Blackberry the cat has noticed a shift and has been coming in the house more lately than she did all year.
It all started the Thursday before Thanksgiving, when the Lighthouse of Faith Mennonite Church had their annual community Thanksgiving dinner and choir performance. We planned to go, so I had the boys start out early to walk the dogs. A little sooner than we expected them back, Cedwryck came back alone, with some out-of-breath story about the dogs getting away. So I took off and met Riah where he was trying to go into the woods. Turns out Ced needed to pee, so he asked Riah to hold his dog (Gina, a black and tan girl) while he went into the bushes. Riah proceeded to tie his dog (Duke, a big tan boy) to an electric pole so he could hold Gina. Well, he noticed Duke managed to get free of his tie, and in the excitement and trying to catch Duke he let go of Gina, and both were away into the woods. The worry here was that Gina was wearing a leash attached to a choke collar. Duke had his halter and leash.
Well, we called and spoke to the man at the nearest house, and went on to the dinner. Over the next few days we put up flyers, contacted the shelter, went door-to-door, and walked in the woods looking and calling. We also prepared to go to Bob's cousin's house in Branson for the family get-together.
On Thanksgiving day we went to Branson and spent a nice day with Bob's family. Everybody was together for the first time in 3 years. The cousin has a nice, HUGE house (3x the size of ours) and everybody was in a good mood. The food was good and plentiful, and the TV didn't stay on too long. After supper we made our exit and checked into a hotel. Because of a misunderstanding, we ended up with two rooms and split boys and girls+Daniel. We drove around the main drag, checked out some folks standing in line for store openings, and got fresh doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, then went back to hotel for baths. Daniel didn't want to go to sleep, but finally settled down in my bed about 11:30.
Friday morning we had breakfast in the hotel, featuring toaster waffles and the worst coffee ever made, during which a family with a show there in town came in, sang a song, and handed out flyers for their show. Then we went out for more sightseeing. The lakeside walks and fountains were accessed from Bass Pro Shop's parking lot, but with the shoppers out there was a line just to get in the parking lot. So we passed on that. We did go to one shopping center where I hit a Corelle/Pyrex/corningware outlet and Bob checked out a tool store. I got some mixing bowls and a storage set.
Then we headed home, where, when I opened my door to step out, there stood Duke! I didn't see him until I opened the door. He seemed very glad to see us and wanted lots of petting, then went to bed and slept the rest of the day. He still had his harness and leash, though the handle of the leash had been cut off. He had not lost weight. The boys assumed it was over for Gina and so were very sad.
After looking over Duke and unpacking the car, we went to Springdale. Bob got a DeWalt drill set at Lowe's, we looked at air compressors and cell phones in 3 stores, got a new leash, a sheet set, and granola bars. Then back to Lowe's for the air compressor.
The next couple of days are kind of a blur. Oh, I remember! I spent 2 or 3 days online, looking up cell phones and price plans. Finally decided on one and they wouldn't sell to my address. So tried again with MIL's address, and the third time it went through. :) But by then the phone was backordered and I'm supposed to get it Monday, but with this weather it'll probably be delayed. I got a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, with a pre-paid plan from T-Mobile. I'll let you know how it goes.
Yesterday we got a call from a family that had Gina. Bob went to their house, over 2 miles away, and Gina came to him when he called. They had picked her up off the highway, still wearing her choke collar and leash, and were feeding her. She was dirty but fat, and SOOO glad to see Duke. We were in shock that both dogs made it home - besides the leashes, it is deer season and the folks tend to shoot first and ask questions later.
Today Bob and Ced walked the dogs while Riah and I fed them and the chickens and it began to sleet. A few minutes after they got back, Riah decided to go into the dog pen to pet them, and they got out. Haven't seen or heard from them since. I'm trying to not care too much. I love dogs, and have always had one, and have always done my best for them, but these guys just don't want to be here, I guess. Maybe we need to let go a bit and view them more as barn cats.
Blackberry the cat has noticed a shift and has been coming in the house more lately than she did all year.
Saturday, 9 November 2013
giveaway
A blog that I follow http://inashoe.com/2013/11/giveaway-new-double-album-by-nathan-clark-george/#comment-113949 is hosting a giveaway of Nathan Clark George's new CD. You can listen to lots of his music on his website, http://www.nathanclarkgeorge.com/.
We first heard and met NCG at Family Camp in New Mexico, WAAAAY back when Cedwryck was the baby (that'd be 8 1/2 years ago). He sang a song about brushing off his children and getting grumpy, instead of being patient and available, and it made me cry. So I bought both the albums he had available at the time.
Then he sang another song that made me laugh, but I don't think it's on an album. It went something like this:
A chicken hawk and a vulture were sitting on a fence near a chicken farm, and the chicken hawk was worried that they would never find anything to eat, but the vulture said that the Lord would provide. The hawk saw a rabbit, but didn't catch it in time; the vulture just said, "the Lord will provide." Finally the hawk could stand it no more, and he attacked the chickens. The farmer came out and shot the chicken hawk! The vulture happily flew over, saying to himself, "I knew the Lord would provide."
So go take a look, and put in for the drawing if you want, but if you win I get to borrow your CD for a few days.
We first heard and met NCG at Family Camp in New Mexico, WAAAAY back when Cedwryck was the baby (that'd be 8 1/2 years ago). He sang a song about brushing off his children and getting grumpy, instead of being patient and available, and it made me cry. So I bought both the albums he had available at the time.
Then he sang another song that made me laugh, but I don't think it's on an album. It went something like this:
A chicken hawk and a vulture were sitting on a fence near a chicken farm, and the chicken hawk was worried that they would never find anything to eat, but the vulture said that the Lord would provide. The hawk saw a rabbit, but didn't catch it in time; the vulture just said, "the Lord will provide." Finally the hawk could stand it no more, and he attacked the chickens. The farmer came out and shot the chicken hawk! The vulture happily flew over, saying to himself, "I knew the Lord would provide."
So go take a look, and put in for the drawing if you want, but if you win I get to borrow your CD for a few days.
Monday, 4 November 2013
catch up again
I see that people still visit me occasionally. Old habits die hard, I guess. Anyway, a brief recap of the last two months.
Bob has been working with a friend, paid by the hour as a self-employed or independent contractor. They do construction, mostly; repairs and remodels as well as new work. The friend also has lawn mowing equipment, but he does those jobs by himself. We are using that money to make improvements on our own house.
... We are enclosing the carport (3 bay) to make a living room. The 1 car garage will be a library, but that will come later. Meanwhile, we knocked the rock siding off of the house/garage wall inside the carport and emptied the garage into the metal building. Then, since Bob's tools and photo equipment are now in the building, it became imperative to get electricity down there. The electric company has been called, and we bought the wires and boxes to fix that up. Bob also put in some insulation and hung pegboard in the first available corner.
In the carport We are going to pour concrete to raise the floor and keep it dry, build a couple of walls with a bay window and a new entry door, put insulation in the ceiling and walls and finish them on the inside; wire for plugs, lights, and fans, put siding on the outside... It will be a lot of work. But as our current living area is 9 1/2 by 19 feet (and 5 + of that 19 is entry/walkway), we need the space. We may also include a closet for our bedroom as well as an entry/coat closet.
We had a yard sale at the house a few weeks ago, and did o.k. on Friday, but nothing on Saturday. Then this weekend we took our stuff to Anna Mary's Cakes parking lot sale along with 4 other families and their warehouse sale. Friday we did well, and Saturday was slow but still sold some. We didn't keep track of our sales, but spent what we earned on other people's stuff and had some left over. What was left was packed up and donated to two charities.
I had a really nice birthday, where Bob conspired with my friend to have a surprise party. SSon even called to say Happy Birthday. I had two cakes and got some new clothes as well as a new canner, kitchen timer, coupon for babysitting, and chocolate.
We've had a couple of interesting dining experiences, such as the time at our Huntsville Sonic, where we ordered a cheeseburger with mustard, they rang up a hamburger (which isn't even on the menu), and when it arrived it had bacon on it, but the Jr burger which we requested plain, with bacon (it rang up correctly) came with only ketchup. Then another time we ate at Colton's Steak House in Fayetteville for the first time. They had a big banner up that "kids eat free". We asked and were told it was 2 kid's meals for each adult. As Taryn is an adult, we would get 6 free, and come out just right. Bob and I shared a combo plate and appetizer, and the waitress said she'd have to charge full price on the appetizer (it was on sale) so it could count as a meal to get the free kid's meals. We thought that was o.k. But when the ticket came, she only took off the price of 4 kid's meals. ugh. If she'd said from the beginning it was 2 meals for every entree, we would have found another entree to order, but we asked first and were told... Anyway, they were the best ribs I've had in a LONG time, and the cheese fries were good, too.
Daniel got his first molar a couple of days ago, and has been randomly screaming throughout the day. He also persists in learning new things, and exploring with all his might. He can open the child safety lock on the kitchen cabinet, and easily climbs into any chair and on the table and piano. He is interested in the fire, but so far has not burned himself. He likes to hand me a stick to put into the fire. He can say several of our names, including his own, but always at full volume. He really just likes to yell, and yelled joyfully, without stopping, for a whole trip through Lowes while we priced flooring, lights, and siding. He's starting to get predictable in his bowel movements, so I put him on the toilet a couple of times. He grunted away when I told him to go potty, but nothing happened. He does still like to play in the toilet water (or whatever else might be in there, thanks to older siblings who don't always flush). We moved his bed into the boys' room this week, and he slept all night last night.
O.K. Enough for now. :)
Bob has been working with a friend, paid by the hour as a self-employed or independent contractor. They do construction, mostly; repairs and remodels as well as new work. The friend also has lawn mowing equipment, but he does those jobs by himself. We are using that money to make improvements on our own house.
... We are enclosing the carport (3 bay) to make a living room. The 1 car garage will be a library, but that will come later. Meanwhile, we knocked the rock siding off of the house/garage wall inside the carport and emptied the garage into the metal building. Then, since Bob's tools and photo equipment are now in the building, it became imperative to get electricity down there. The electric company has been called, and we bought the wires and boxes to fix that up. Bob also put in some insulation and hung pegboard in the first available corner.
In the carport We are going to pour concrete to raise the floor and keep it dry, build a couple of walls with a bay window and a new entry door, put insulation in the ceiling and walls and finish them on the inside; wire for plugs, lights, and fans, put siding on the outside... It will be a lot of work. But as our current living area is 9 1/2 by 19 feet (and 5 + of that 19 is entry/walkway), we need the space. We may also include a closet for our bedroom as well as an entry/coat closet.
We had a yard sale at the house a few weeks ago, and did o.k. on Friday, but nothing on Saturday. Then this weekend we took our stuff to Anna Mary's Cakes parking lot sale along with 4 other families and their warehouse sale. Friday we did well, and Saturday was slow but still sold some. We didn't keep track of our sales, but spent what we earned on other people's stuff and had some left over. What was left was packed up and donated to two charities.
I had a really nice birthday, where Bob conspired with my friend to have a surprise party. SSon even called to say Happy Birthday. I had two cakes and got some new clothes as well as a new canner, kitchen timer, coupon for babysitting, and chocolate.
We've had a couple of interesting dining experiences, such as the time at our Huntsville Sonic, where we ordered a cheeseburger with mustard, they rang up a hamburger (which isn't even on the menu), and when it arrived it had bacon on it, but the Jr burger which we requested plain, with bacon (it rang up correctly) came with only ketchup. Then another time we ate at Colton's Steak House in Fayetteville for the first time. They had a big banner up that "kids eat free". We asked and were told it was 2 kid's meals for each adult. As Taryn is an adult, we would get 6 free, and come out just right. Bob and I shared a combo plate and appetizer, and the waitress said she'd have to charge full price on the appetizer (it was on sale) so it could count as a meal to get the free kid's meals. We thought that was o.k. But when the ticket came, she only took off the price of 4 kid's meals. ugh. If she'd said from the beginning it was 2 meals for every entree, we would have found another entree to order, but we asked first and were told... Anyway, they were the best ribs I've had in a LONG time, and the cheese fries were good, too.
Daniel got his first molar a couple of days ago, and has been randomly screaming throughout the day. He also persists in learning new things, and exploring with all his might. He can open the child safety lock on the kitchen cabinet, and easily climbs into any chair and on the table and piano. He is interested in the fire, but so far has not burned himself. He likes to hand me a stick to put into the fire. He can say several of our names, including his own, but always at full volume. He really just likes to yell, and yelled joyfully, without stopping, for a whole trip through Lowes while we priced flooring, lights, and siding. He's starting to get predictable in his bowel movements, so I put him on the toilet a couple of times. He grunted away when I told him to go potty, but nothing happened. He does still like to play in the toilet water (or whatever else might be in there, thanks to older siblings who don't always flush). We moved his bed into the boys' room this week, and he slept all night last night.
O.K. Enough for now. :)
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