Time Flies and We're Having Fun

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Road Trip to Grandma's

So as you will see in the post below...I got a new car on Monday. Perfect timing as I had a pre-planned trip up to my mom's house to help her paint the inside of her house and was taking James with me as Freddy had his mom this weekend. So was NICE to be in the new car for the road trip...drove great, we were comfy and loving it! Left at 5:30 AM on Friday morning, got to mom's like 9:40 AM I think it was? Pretty good time. Today's trip home was a bit longer only due to "child needing to potty....a LOT on the way home, but still not bad, think it took us 5 hours and that was with 3 stops along the way...cant complain...I was in my new car! HA!

Well the painting at mom's went GREAT!! I literally painted EVERY wall in her house except for her two bathrooms and her bedroom, while Mom painted the baseboards and trim around the doors. It looks so freakin awesome! Like a totally new place now. She did it in the same color I did most of my house recently (relaxed khaki) and she is as in love with the color as I am. here are some before and after pics of her place....she had a light sagey green on her living room walls, and basicaly an off white everywhere else before.........looks pretty damned good if I do say so myself now!!!! Had a great time this weekend Mom!!! Glad we were able to come up and see you and help you paint!!! We love you!

BEFORE PICS:

AFTER PICS:

Momma's New Ride

Yes, that's right....I got a new car.......the mom mobile Dodge Caravan minivan is BYE BYE!!!! And no tears shed in the process like when I turned in my sweet Honda Accord 4 years ago to get the van! LOL!!!

Our friend Ken tuned up the van for me last Sunday. Brought the spark plugs to me in a baggie...they were DRIPPING in oil....he looked me in the eye, shook his head and said.....when I took the spark plugs out...oil POURED out of each hole. You need to get rid of this van like TODAY!!!!

Seeing as how it was Sunday afternoon that wasnt an option....so my plan was to baby it this week till I got back from Mom's (pre-planned trip' up there to help her paint), that I would take Freddy's truck up there etc and look for a car this week.

Well I drove to work Monday morning...part way anyway. About half way to work I realized I had burned thru an eighth of a tank of gas, and it wasnt running quite right, especially since it had been tuned up the night before. So I turned around, drove home and made calls and got on the internet looking at cars, and getting pre-approved. By lunchtime I was pre-aproved at a Toyota dealership, so I went and picked up Freddy and James, and off we went. They were able to work me a deal on a new one only, due to the incentives available and what not, was the only way to get out from under the van and all....I was not gonna complain!! Ive never owned a brand new car....this baby only had 29 miles on it when we test drove it.

By that evening...was the proud new owner of a brand new 2009 Toyota Matrix Sport. I LOVE THIS CAR!!! Great on gas mileage, super cute, sporty, love the dashboard and the seats inside (feel like the old Ricaro race seats, they wrap around you nice) and lots of neat features. And its the bigger 4 cylinder so when you step on it...it goes, let me tell you. So, BYE BYE mom mobile van......and good riddance! Momma is LOVING her new ride!!!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Too Cool for her Pool

Or should I say, a pool to KEEP her cool??? :)

We keep Bailey outside during the day in a covered/shaded dog run in the back yard....has her dog house for her to crash out in, water bowls, she takes her chew bone out there every morning etc etc and she does really well with that setup. Well, it has been pretty WARM here in Houston lately, so we decided to get Bailey a hard plastic kiddie pool to put in there with her and fill it up.......she IS a lab after all...a water dog so to speak....so she should love it right?

Well it was quite funny when we got it and brought it home...filled it up and we tried to show her what to do. It took me getting in the pool, and taking her by her collar and lifting each paw into the pool and dragging her in there, a few times actually...till she got the hang of it. Which she finally did and she DOES like it! LOL!!! Except over every other trait she has...this dog is both a digger and a CHEWER....and I mean that big time!!! She has had the pool about 3-4 weeks now and Freddy came inside last nite and told me he filled it up.....but that it was leaking out...why? Cause silly Miss Bailey decided to chew a hole in the BOTTOM of the freakin thing? How the HELL did she manage that? SHEESH!!! crazy dog!! So, we let it drain out and are gonna duct tape the bottom of it and see if that holds...our luck we will come home to an empty pool once again tomorrow afternoon, and a dog that is gonna have silver poop in a day or two when the duct tape re-surfaces.....anyone willing to wager a bet on that one? Don't bet against it...you are pretty much bound to lose.....HA!!!

Daddy trying to coax her in without getting in himself

testing the waters....

one paw at a time.....

got the front in now.......what about the back?

ah ha! back was in, now the front is out!

TA DA!!! All the way in at last!

HOORAY!!! Good job Bailey girl!!

Doesnt she look proud of herself? :)

And I look over, and there is my curious son...fascinated and thrilled with the hole in the hose....sneaking a drink....tee hee!

Gotta love that boy......

4th of July

So this year, the Fourth of July weekend was FAR different than those in the past.......unfortunately Hurricane Ike took Bill's beach house (was actually his full time residence that he lost there) which is where the Salinas family used to converge upon every July 4th for a fantastic family weekend of fun and relaxing. So, since that was not an option this year.....we just hung out at home and decided to ask Liz and Aidan if they wanted to come over and hang out with us, since Ken was offshore at the time.

So they came over, we hung out and let the boys play in the pool in the yard for a bit, we BBQ'd and then waited to watch the Freedom Over Texas fireworks display on tv that happens in downtown Houston every year. which was FANTASTIC on our big screen tv in HD let me tell you what! And no crowds to fight and traffic to battle to see it either...and in the comfort of the AC at home....couldnt beat it...even if it wasnt nearly as great as fireworks on Bolivar watching from the deck of Bill's beach house....