random stuff

Grace has been collecting sticks, rocks, leaves and everything else nature. She has big piles of things in her room. I need to get her a big shelf or something to put it all on. This is her first thing she has done with them.



Because it's not enough to just get the mohawk, you gotta have some color





Look at the size of them nuts. Black walnuts



Grace is excited about having all of those awesome looking shells to make animals out of. Black walnuts are the best of them all. I love how the ink stains my fingers. It looked like I killed a demon and had his blood on my hands for a few days. It looks really cool jammin on the guitar with demon fingers. Everyone thinks Im crazy for not just buying them in the store. I don't care, I want to be able to feed these kids without depending on anything. Foraging is just one way to do it.



This tree is the motherload. We got 4 buckets of nuts last time, and will be headed back in a couple days to get probably just as many. They look like tennis balls. Getting the nut out of the husk is fun. I line them up a bucket at a time under all 4 tires of the truck, and run over them 3 or 4 times, then put them in a bucket with gravel and water and stir it all up for about 10 min with a mortar mixer bit in my bigass drill to get all the remnants of husk off. It cleans them up quick. I can process a bucket in 30 minutes.

Ripley's

The kids have been wanting to see Ripley's museum in Gatlinburg for a long time now. We had a day, so we took the long route, through the mountains and spent a few hours walking through the tourist trap.

That sexy dude is covering up the sign, but this is the first legal distillery in Tennessee. The laws are really old here, due to all the moonshining in the past. They dont even give licenses to do craft distillerys here, so this is a big deal.

Callhouns is allways a good place to eat. They own a whole little area here, with several buildings like this one, including a brewery/restaurant, gem mining, general store, you get the picture.


Big granite balls floating in water are allways a hit with the kiddies

Grace let me put a couple in here

The weekend before school started, Raegan checked us into the Wilderness at the Smokies. It is very nice place to bring the kids. When you stay at the hotel, you get exclusive passes to an outdoor, and an indoor waterpark. We didn't get any pictures of the indoor one, due to the camera was way too fogged up. The outdoor one is more for smaller kids, the indoor one is 48 inches and up for most things, with a toddler section. These guys had a blast, we will definitely be back.

Ever had 10,000 gallons of water dumped on your head?

Sports

Football fever is catching on. Ignore the dirty floor, we had a million people over tracking it up.

Jack is doing really good with football. He really gives it 110pct. He can do a lap around the field without pausing now, and can do leglifts without resting, and up downs are his favorite. He is second defense, playing tackle mostly. When he is on the sidelines, he cheers his team on and does push ups and up downs on his own. Im glad we found something to help him get his energy focused. This is his first game we got video on, and only a couple of snaps. The other team is their arch rivals, powell. We have played them 3 times already, 2 bowl games and a regular season. We won the regular season, and lost both bowl games. The coaches don't want to show all our plays to them, due to we play them in one more regular season, and probably the playoffs, as they are the team to beat. Our regular season record is 3-0. Things look good for the Bobcats this season. He is number 91!

Jack is very eager to play baseball next season, unprovoked by anyone. He just really wants to play. His coach does baseball too, so maybe we will luck up and get him on his team in the spring

Check out what I found on craigslist for free

Jack's practice uniform. He is doing good. They tried him out at tight end, but he's mostly played defensive tackle and end. They moved him to linebacker last practice, and he gets through the line every time, running full speed to the ball. he recovered a couple of fumbles, and stripped it from the quarterback. It was so funny to see him take the ball. He turned to me, raised it over his head and screamed I got it again! with his other hand giving the thumbs up. Everyone was laughing, even the coaches. He is having a lot of fun, and is starting to get in shape.

My baby is 2

Luke is not a baby anymore. He is a little man. He has a great personallity, always looking for the funny in everything, playing tricks on people and running around the house with Wuh-wuh (Jack), and Date.................................SSSSSSSSSSSS (Grace). For his birthday, we went to eat his favorite, chicken Quesedillias and chips with spicy salsa and queso. Then, it was off to Toys R us, where he had to tell us about every little detail of everything in the store. Then to the big mall to go in the wind tunnel, ride the little merry go round, get some dippin dots, and stare at the victoria secret window displays for an awkward few minutes. We are truly blessed to have such a great little guy like him around. Happy birthday Luke.

Grace is very proud of this one. Our cucumbers are only supposed to be 4-5 inch picklers. Sometimes they balloon up in the beginning. I let those get big. This is the biggest yet. Grace eats cucumbers every day with lemon pepper for lunch. She sure does love cucumbers. 2 more posts to follow.

They sell raincatchers for like 80 bucks at a few places. We made 2 for 30bucks. This one is getting painted. We put 3 Koi in it to eat the mosquitoes. The kids each have one. They all 3 love feeding them. Fish are so much easier than other pets. They love when it rains. They all 3 get in front of the gutter and swim in the current.