Colds and a Minor T.V. Meltdown

Well, Terry just got over a head cold and it seems he has passed it on to me. I tried to stay away from him while he was sick, but I guess when you sleep in the same bed, it's inevitable!

We have been having some trouble with our 36" tube T.V. for about 2 weeks. The picture would be fine and then all of a sudden, we'd be watching something and the picture would get super small and turn into a line across the width of the television. We'd just go hit the T.V. on the top and it'd be fine for a little while. Last night, we were trying {trying being the key word here} to watch a movie and it kept doing what I described above. Everytime we would sit down from giving it a big whack on the top, it would go back to it's tiny little line arcross the T.V. SO... the T.V. died. No luck this morning trying to get the picture to return. We had to pick the darn thing up and move it into the back of my SUV so that Terry could take it to the Porter County Landfill. WHEW! Those things are H-E-A-V-Y! Thankfully, we had another 36" tube T.V. in our bedroom. We had to carry that one downstairs and put it back into the entertainment center. All of this being done with only 1 nostril that was fully functioning... Not Fun at all!

I guess we will be in the market for a new LCD television pretty soon.

Anyway, the dogs had to go for their shots yesterday and Shasta needed to be spayed. She's such an active little booger, so I knew the surgery was going to be difficult for her. The doctor decided to stitch rather than glue her incision together because we told him how Kiara and Shasta play. She's really not liking having those stitches because she keeps trying to bite them... so we had to put on her lil' collar! Here's a picture:

She looks thrilled, doesn't she? Kaitlynn was worried sick... she's been following her around making sure that she behaves and doesn't try to jump or exert herself. Shasta is definitely Kaitlynn's dog!

Now as we were headed to bed for the evening, we found this:

Now here is Kiara laying down with Faith! This NEVER, EVER happens. Faith torments our poor dogs and Kiara is the one you will find the FARTHEST away from Faith. I thought this was a sweet picture!

Finally

Well, we finally got the living room, stairway and upstairs hallway painted. Thanks to my cousin, Joey and his wife Angie for helping! We are so happy with the way it turned out... here are the before pictures: Here we were painting... even the kids joined in. Good thing the walls needed 2 coats!Terry had to work afternoon shift, so he wasn't sure how much we had done. I think from the look on his face, he was pretty impressed! It took 2 coats of paint to completely cover the crappy white contractor's paint.
Terry and Joey trying to get the trim even along the ceiling! That was a horrible task!

Faith holding the "Whammer Hammer" as she calls it!

And FINALLY, the finished product!

Needless to say, we are SO glad that this is done! There are still some things left to hang along the stairway wall and in the upstairs hallway, but for the most part everything is done! We still have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms to paint ... but after this job, that can wait till late Spring or early Summer!

Make Over???

Sometimes, a picture just speaks for itself...

Painting

The last few days have been busy for us. We have been trying to get some things done and have been running errands. Terry and I decided that it was time to get the living room painted. We've been here for going on 8 years and have not yet painted the living room {yep, it's a boring contractors paint white}. Anyhow, my cousin Joey and his sweet wife Angie said that they'd come by and help us. We are certainly not going to turn down their generous offer!!!! I'll post some pictures once the living room is all nice and pretty.
Today, I tore the living room apart. I took all of the pictures and decorations off the walls and pulled out the nails. I spackled the little nail holes and a couple of other little gouges in the walls. Tomorrow's task is to go and get the paint {Terry and I picked out the colors on Monday night} and supplies. I am not a very neat painter so I have also been masking the baseboards and trim work. WHEW!
Enough of boring you all with this nonsense... I know you all came to see pictures!!!

I took this picture of the girls while there was still snow on the ground. I thought this was a cute one... especially because we actually got Faith to look at the camera despite the sun blinding her!

First Beautiful Day of The Year

Today was a beautiful day. We had 60 degree weather and decided to take advantage of it by finishing a cedar chest that one of my friends had given to us last summer. I started sanding it down in the late fall, but obviously never got it finished. Terry and I thought that today would be the perfect day to get outside and get it done. I was inside cutting more sandpaper to fit our palm sanders and started out the door to take on the rest of this project when I saw Faith helping her daddy:

I just had to get a picture of this! Faith is always asking if she can help... even if she gets bored with whatever task within about 2 minutes! It's just such a sweet gesture. Terry and I managed to get the cedar chest finished, and it looks beautiful. I snapped a couple of pictures to show you {even though it's still drying in the garage] please excuse the push mower!

So this is how it turned out. Not too shabby! We are just waiting for the stain to dry before moving it into the house. Thanks Corrine for thinking of us before getting rid of this beautiful chest!

Snow Galore...

Yesterdays weather forecast was Lake Effect Snow. The kids got out of school 45 minutes early due to the weather. It started snowing here at 1:30 pm and was still snowing early this morning. Before Terry and I went to bed at Midnight last night, we took a couple of pictures of the wonderful "blizzard type" snow we were getting:

When we got up, we awoke to a winter wonderland. Everything outside was completely covered in a blanket of pure white. Getting the sliding glass door open this morning was a chore, but with using the blow dryer we managed to melt enough of the ice to open the door. Here are a couple of shots of the fur babies out in the snow this morning:

Kiara didn't want to come in from the snow... she's just totally in her element in the cold and snow!

Shyanne, on the other hand, was pleading at the door.

Poor lil' Shasta was buried in the snow once she stepped off the deck. Needless to say, she didn't stay out there for very long.

In total, we got 17 inches of snow and in the places where the snow drifted, Terry measured 4.5 feet. Yes, I said 4.5 FEET of snow in the drifts! Here are a couple of pictures:

Here's a picture of Kaitlynn still clad in pajamas... Look how tall the snow is next to her! That wasn't even the snow drifts!

This is looking out the upstairs master bedroom window.

Anyhow, I am sure you all get the drift now that I've written a story-book about our wonderful snow storm! Another day off of school for the kids this winter and another day tacked on to the end of the school year when the weather will be nice.

I don't know about all of you, but I'm really ready for spring! This winter has been harsh!

Dog Training

The girls decided to "train" the dogs tonight. Here is a cute lil' picture of them with our 3 dogs: Shyanne, Kiara, and Shasta.

I have to say, they were pretty well behaved considering the fact that the kids were running them all over the house... Kiara is definitely too much dog for Faith, but even when we tried to have her play with Shasta, she would have none of that. Faith calls Kiara an Alaskan Husky... not Siberian! It's too funny because if you try to correct her she'll tell you, "NO, Kiara is an ALASKAN HUSKY"! Since Trooper's passing, Shyanne is the most affected. She has become more attached to me than ever. She still prefers Terry but she has definitely come around me a lot more than usual. Maybe she senses that I really miss him... who knows, but the new attention from her is very welcome! Kiara and Shasta don't seem to notice that he's not with us anymore. I believe that's more because they only knew him as a grumpy old man. There's even an orb in the picture above... It's just to the right where Trooper would have normally sat. It's almost as though he's still with us. The picture gives me a little re-assurance of that!