Meanwhile, Back in Lula...

We've been doing a lot of renovations on the house in Lula. One of the things that we knew needed to be done for a while was the front door frame needing to be replaced. Also, the front porch was what I like to classify as junk, so we decided to have a new one built as well. The house is in one of those subdivisions that some idiot contractor (Tipton Home Builders - Jerry Tipton is the owner - any letters you'd like to send him involving what a sorry person he is for not caring more about putting his name on quality products, or even prayers in hopes that, yes, he will answer to God one day for his actions would be lovely) built as quickly and cheaply as possible. Yes, we do like the house, and the neighborhood is great, but there have been SEVERAL things that we've discovered were done half way that we've had to repair. So, we needed to replace the door frame, and the front porch, and when we tore the cheapo carpet up to lay down hardwood by the front door, we discovered that the problem was more extensive than we realized. So, as is our luck (and a lot of people's luck, I'm realizing) there was a lot more water damage and mold - yes, mold - than we realized. Andy tore down the porch, and then he has some friends who he layed tile for who returned the favor by doing all the work (more advantages of having a husband who can do so many odd jobs - I love that!). They pulled out the door, and pulled down the siding to see how far the damage went, then replaced everything, sealed up the window above the door because it was just another escape for leaking water, and put a new door on with a PVC frame instead of wood. The next day, they replaced the all-wood junky excuse for a front porch with a very nice wood and metal porch. (Money saving tip that I was not aware of: metal electrical conduit looks very similar to wrought iron when painted black and costs much, much less.) We still have a few things to do. The posts on the porch will get some kind of caps, and the door will be painted black to match the shutters, and then, of course, there's the huge mess that we have to clean up. We're also looking around at awnings to put over the door since there's that huge void where the window was, and to prevent future water damage. Here are some pictures I took with my phone during those 2 days.

For all you Twitter Fans

For everybody that keeps asking me why I don't do Facebook or Twitter, here's a great example (video stolen from my sister's blog, by the way)! And, don't even try to say blogging is the same thing. (I hear your wounded pride speaking now!)

Divine Retribution

Anyone who's a parent has been told at least a million times that your kids will pay you back for the things you did to your parents. I guess it's the curse that keeps on cursing, and whether it's a true curse or just a simple combination of normal kid things and genetic tendencies, so far it's been pretty steady around here. Evan acts so much like Andy, Alli is very much like me, and Drew seems to be a good combination of both of us. When I was a kid, my sisters and I were bestest friends, slept together every night, and fought like cats and dogs, and my kids all do the very same things. One thing I've noticed that I've found funny is that when we were really little, we loved to sit in mom's laundry baskets. I don't know what the excitement is -- it's probably similar to the excitement of a big box. But, she was always yelling at us to get out of her laundry baskets, and her laundry baskets never lasted long because we were always sitting in them and breaking them. As a parent, I am super protective of my laundry basket for that reason. I only have one, and when it's not full of laundry (which is most of the time) it sits on a super high shelf that the kids can't reach. Unfortunately, because of that curse, the kids have found that our little tiny storage ottoman works just as well. I am forever telling them to get out of the ottoman. So far it seems to be a bit more sturdy than a laundry basket, but it's one of the favorite places to sit and watch TV for some strange reason!

Evan Strikes Again

First, I feel like I need to point out that he did this to himself, all by himself, and he's actually happy in this picture, although he looks a little upset. Those of you who are very familiar with Evan will find this funny and typical, and those of you who aren't are just getting another glimpse into his strange little psyche. He is his father's child, that's for sure! Aside from the good laugh he got from all of us, he also learned a good lesson about the combination of hair and tape.

Drew, the Softball Star

Ok, I know I said before that Drew was done with softball for the year, but that's ended up being untrue. She plays first base and is one of the best players on her team, so after she sat out of one game, Andy bought a very, very light-weight bat, took her out in the backyard, and decided that she would be fine, and she has been. She had to wrap the cast everytime to protect the other girls from getting hit with it, which made no sense to me since there are flying balls throughout each game, but we complied and she's has done great. She's an amazing ball player, I must say. The team ended up taking 2nd place in the whole county, which was a pretty great accomplishment since last year this very same group of girls didn't win a game! After the last game the parks and leisure people handed out trophies for the first place and runner-up teams, so that was very exciting for everyone. Here are a few pictures of her playing in one of the last games (after she got her cast off and decided the brace was too binding to play ball in!) and one of the whole team with their trophies. Drew is in there in the middle sort of under the trophy. You can see her eyes, and she's not really smiling in that one.

At the very beginning of the game -- you can still see the marks on the field where the dirt has been smoothed.

Getting a player out!

Getting another player out!

Getting ready to hit!

Ready to run to third base!

Crossing home plate!

The whole team!