One Happy Dog Speaks » Family

Is It Hot Or Cold?

vwbug — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:54:05 +0000

What a crazy couple of days in Florida. First it is in the mid 80s (F) and now it is in the 60s (F). The problem with this is how to keep you house at a nice temperature. Every morning you have to make decisions on the air conditioning and windows. The problem I have with open windows is that two of us have severe allergies and … you guessed it… the pollen is at a 9 on a scale from 1 to 10. Lots of stuff blooming. Yet, it keeps the energy bill down if I can open the windows. And I like low energy bills. In fact I have been putting money away in the hopes of getting a solar panel hot water heater. In fact I have looked at other top alternative energy companies. There are not many in our area… but that means there is opportunity here.

My boys have even been talking about alternative energy… wind turbines, solar and hydroelectricity. It has been interesting to talk about what would work around here. Their first reaction was wind turbines… but then we paid attention to how windy it was over a week and decided that was not that good of an idea. We have wind but not consistently. Being in Florida, we have lots of water… but nothing that really could be passed through a dam or other contraption to get energy. Yet we noticed that it is sunny a lot around here. Yes, it rains but not usually all day long. Occasionally but not very often. Battery backups were discussed for those ‘not sunny days’. Yep. It was a change in temperature and class work that brought on a very cool conversation.

Webelos I badge has been earned

vwbug — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:26:30 +0000

My son got his badge last night. I’m so excited. In just 6 months my son got his Webelos I badge. It was a lot of camping, reading, memorizing, going to special camps to learn about car repair, first aid, building stuff and more. It has been a whirlwind. Yet, I’m excited. We are closer to him becoming a boy scout. Yep… life is good.

Universal Pictures

vwbug — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:15:02 +0000

Ok, I promised to put out some pictures but have been extremely busy… Hence, here is a couple to show you we really did go and it really was empty!

My youngest saw me, hence I got a tongue stuck out at me… he is in the front by himself… sigh… they are growing up…

On the other hand, the oldest convinced dad to ride in the very back with him!

We are headed to the park… and look how empty:

Yep, we had a great time!

New Games to Play

vwbug — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:52:13 +0000

The boys got a ton of board games. New ones and old ones. The old ones came from my mom. Thanks Mamaw! Here is my youngest and I playing Stratego.

The oldest took the picture for us. He did a great job taking the picture!

Dragon’s egg

vwbug — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:12:19 +0000

I’m getting hooked on kid books. First Harry Potter, then Percy Jackson and now I just read Dragon’s Egg by Thompson and loved it. Don’t get me wrong… I like adult books too- like the Bishop series… But these books are not as intense and more relaxing. Considering how stressful life can get… It’s nice to get a relaxing break.

Hope you are ready for the weekend and plan on having a great Christmas. I know I’m looking forward to it.

Band Pics

vwbug — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:14:26 +0000

First the picture of the boys before we leave:

Before the band concert started I took this picture… why? Because he is in the VERY BACK. I couldn’t see him once it started so I’m glad I got this one:

I’m so proud of my boy. He is doing excellent.

My Son’s project on Germany

vwbug — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:36:53 +0000

Ok, finally… a picture:

He said the best part was the chocolate he passed out at the end. We found some Milka bars and Kinder candy. Yep… Then again, he actually ate sushi and liked it. Sigh. Do you know how many times I have tried to get my sons to try sushi???? At least he now will eat it with me when we go out!

Meant to post pictures but…

vwbug — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:00:27 +0000

life got in the way. What a busy week. And it just keeps getting busier. The elf toilet papered the bathroom yesterday. The boys giggled about it. No joke. Giggled. Silly elf.

A Beautiful Weekend

vwbug — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:41:09 +0000

What a beautiful weekend. 75 F in the day, 65 F at night. Camping under the stars. It was gorgeous. The boys had fun. We got to see a lock work. That was so cool as the fish came through as it was filling up. The boys would scream and point. Even the adults loved it. We had the boy scouts make us meals and teach the boys new things… might need Bou’s boys to work on the knots with my kids though… it was just to short a period of time to really get it… that and they used nasty hemp rope.

More pictures and stuff later…

And the countdown begins

vwbug — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:13:28 +0000

Yep… 2 weeks. Only 2 weeks left. This is some wonder if I will get everything done before we leave. Particularly since this week has suddenly become crazy. My son has a field trip on Friday … no biggie… I’m a chaperone… no biggie… until I found out that I have to have him at the school before 6am and we won’t be back until 7pm… D’oh. We are going camping with the boy scouts and we were suppose to follow them up at 5:30pm to the camp site. Not happening. The Scout Master was cool and said we could show up late and I would have a ton of scouts ready to help us set up tent at 9pm at night. It works out in the end! Well… as long as I can get someone to watch the younger one while I’m gone!