Our Date With Cate Part 2

Cate also made a new friend while she was riding Abbey's car. She befriended a large bottle of shampoo that I had purchased earlier today. She would not put it down. Also notice that Cate dried her own hair.

After Chick-Fil-A we went to Target to buy Cate some new shorts. Of course, we had to buy her a couple of other cute outfits. We looked for a "Fourth of July" shirt for both Carah and Cate, but we couldn't find Carah's size.


Time was getting later, you know, it was like 6:59 and Cate was getting tired. She was ready to go home. On the way home, I think that someone Toopted (Cate's word for Toot). As soon as we got home, Cate got into her PJ's and headed to sleep. It was 7:28.



All in all, it was a fabulous day. We hope that Danny and Michelle had a great time together. I am glad that they were willing to loan us their daughter.

Our Date With Cate Part 1

Our date started today with giving Cate's parents their anniversary present. Today is their 8th anniversary. We gave them a Cheesecake Factory gift card and some Crabtree and Evelyn things. After the old folks were gone, we decided that we would go and look for a Cate a new cat. We went to the Nashville Humane Society where we checked out their cats. There were several there, Cate and Abbey really liked Babe the cat.

In the end, I could not make a decision so we delayed getting Cate a cat (which by the way would have to live at our house). After we arrived home, Cate was dying to go swimming. So we changed into our trunks and headed to the neighborhood pool.

Cate had a blast at the pool. She enjoyed walking up the steps and back down them. Any time that we would spin her around or throw her up in the air, she would immediately follow with "do it again."

Please excuse the picture of me without a shirt on. Notice, as soon as I got out of the pool I put it back on. We were beginning to get hungry for Chick-Fil-A, so we get ready to leave the pool.

Chick-fil-A was yummy, however right before we ate, Cate had a little accident. She had to eat in nothing but her shirt and pull-up. It did not seem to phase her though. After we finished with supper Cate played briefly in the playhouse, until a mean 5-year-old scared her by revving the engine button on the plastic truck.

Control your eagerness, I am going to have to finish posting on the next one.

The Unveiling

At long last, we are back at home with our own toilets and our brand-new bathroom floors. I have even already replaced the ugly wooden towel racks and toilet paper holder with some nice new ones.

















The Sprinkles were most hospitable, but you know there is no place like home, right. We really do love the new floors. I think that Abbey is really happy with them, too.

We are excited that tomorrow we get to have a special guest accompany us to Chick-fil-a. It is Cate. Her mom and dad are going on an anniversary date and Cate is going to spend the night with us. Unfortunately, Carah cannot come because she is at her grandmother's house for VBS there. I bet that Cate will get pretty spoiled by us. Abbey has already mentioned a new outfit, as if the girl needs any new clothes.

Seeing Red

Last night, after painting until after midnight, I was pretty exhausted. I couldn't go to sleep though, because my dearest was not by my side. I like her to be in the bed with me EVERY night, so I can get all of my handsome sleep.

This morning I arose from the bed around 8:30 after waking up and going to sleep about 5 times (thanks, shirtless men next door who feel the need to work on framing the new house across the street at 6:00 AM!). I immediately went to work on the bathroom again. After the second coat was complete, I was out of paint. It was definitely going to need more paint, so I went to Lowe's.

I came back and applied the third coat. Finally it looks good. I am not going to post a picture of it yet, because I want to get the new fixtures and the new floor in the picture. So, you'll have to wait until Monday evening.

Have you ever painted a room red? If you have, then you know it takes MULTIPLE coats. I think someone could make some big money if they would event a two-coat coverage red paint!




Since I know our readers love pictures, I will give you a sneak peak at our newly painted piece of furniture. We bought a gallon of "oops" paint at Lowe's and painted the piece black. The hardware is REALLY ugly and outdated as you can see. We must replace that. I actually attempted this today, however, I bought the wrong size hinge so it will be back to the Lowe's. Are you noticing a theme for my life. Go to Lowes, eat, sleep, go to Lowes.

I'll give you picture of the completed project once it is in place in the living room. Abbey's going to put some of our pottery on it.

Our friend Jerry came over to take up our toilets and pedestal sink for the new flooring which goes in on Monday. I am going to go spend the night with our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Sprinkles. Abbey and I will both spend the night with them tomorrow night. Something about not having a working toilet in one's house is not very comforting.

Door Flower

Sorry for the delay in today's post. Considering it is 12:30 AM, I guess it is really tomorrow's post. However, I have some exciting pictures to show you tomorrow, so I am going to consider this the post for 62306.

This is our summer door arrangement. Our florist, Sherry did it for us. It really looks great on our door. Her instructions were to only put REAL looking "silk flowers" in the container.

I think that she did a really good job. Now, our door is all dressed up for summer.

Abbey is out of town helping her sister pick out her wedding dress, so I am home alone. Today I mowed the yard (it was in desperate need of some TLC), then I had lunch with Abbey before she left.

I came home and painted a piece of furniture the in-laws gave us recently. Then I started working on our bathroom. It is going to be RED! Can't post a picture right now, because it will require multiple coats. Which begs the question, why does a paint manufacturer feel the need to put on the can "one coat coverage?" I mean, seriously, has anyone ever painted a room that did not require a second coat?

Special Edition

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blogging to bring you this news update. The LandLife main computer has been healed.

At approximately 11:30 this morning a Geek Squad employee clad in black pants, white short-sleeved oxford and black tie arrived at the main office of LandLife. The employee, known as Frank, got out of his official Geek Squad vehicle (no photo available), a black and white volkswagen beetle and entered the main office of the LandLife.

Upon gaining entry to LandLife, the aforementioned GS employee, Frank, commenced to diagnose the problem. While fixing the problem which took approximately 2.35 minutes, he also secured the LandLife wireless network making it impossible for neighboring bloggers to use LandLife wireless while working on their patios.

Upon completion of the healing of the computer, the GS employee gave the President of LandLife his bill, which was $110.00 less than had been quoted to the President. The Vice President of LandLife was quite excited and will probably go spend the remaining allotted amount at Target.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.

A Special Surprise

I love surprises. I also love to surprise Abbey, however, those of you who read regularly know that she is almost impossible to surprise. It is not really her fault, except for the fact that I think I must emit some chemical whenever I am planning on surprising her. Her body then receives the chemical and causes her to obstinately go against any type of activity which might aid in the surprise.

Last night I came home and directly went to "my spot". That's the couch in the Living Room, until I get my leather chair (one day, a long, long time from now). Abbey came in and gave me a little leopard print box (rrrgg!). I opened it and inside I found not only a gift card, but an appointment already made for a massage.

The day of the massage is the very first day that we will be living "outside the fish bowl. (meaning, my first day not working at the church)." Although it's sad to not be working at the church, this is one aspect that I will not miss.

So, if you have something stressful to tell me, make sure that it is not next Friday. That is the day I plan on RELAXIN'! I should probably surprise Abbey with something. Oh wait, I already feel the chemical spreading throughout my body. My phone will be ringing soon with Abbey trying to divert any surprise. I guess I'll just have to get her a present and not try to surprise her.

There will be no picture today as blogger will not load the image of a fish in a bowl for me!

Sick Computer

I have been working on my computer so much that my hair has grown long and white. Well, not really, but I have been working on my computer. It seems that something has happened to it and it will not connect to the internet.

It is getting a full signal. We even had our neighbor Adrian come over and he was completely stumped by it after 2 hours of trying. He knows a lot about computers. so it was crazy that he couldn't figure it out. He recommended that we call in the Geek Squad.

So, that's what I did. I called them in. They are supposed to be coming in tomorrow to fix our computer. It will be expensive, though. Apparently, geeks don't come cheap.


Abbey has been the one that is really paralyzed by our computer situation. She does not have access to a computer during summer school, so she has not been able to check email in almost a week. I am a complete email junkie, so that would be really hard for me.

I went to see my office today. I am afraid that my frogs which I packed up yesterday in a big box will be staying in the big box for some time. Abbey has refused at this point to allow them any entrance into our home other than hanging out in the garage. I will take a few special frogs with me though. What would my office be without frogs?

My office is on the 8th floor and it has one full wall of windows. That is exciting. It has a beautiful view. It is fairly small with only one set of book shelves though. I am not sure what I am going to do with all of my books. Oh well, I guess that it will help me declutter right? I won't have time to read anything extra anyway. I will always be reading what people are writing for Sunday School.

I do have an ultra cool Mac for a computer. The only problem is that I have never used a Mac before! I have someone who is going to train me!

I was going to try to put another picture up, but it would not load! Sorry!

Bottlenecker's

Yesterday I went to lunch with a couple of friends from church. We were talking about the transition of my job and how they could help here at the church. Everything was going well. We finished our lunch and headed back here to the church.

We were in Goodlettsville, so I took Old Hickory up to I-24 and got on there. We were on the interstate for only a few seconds when traffic started slowing down. Soon we were just crawling along. We never came to a complete stop, so we figured that there was probably a minor accident or something.

Around the curve, we saw the blue lights flashing. It did not look like anything really bad. As we inched closer we saw a police car pulled over on the side of the road. He was not even on the asphalt part of the road, he was completely in the grass and out of the way of the traffic.

We noticed something else. There was no reason for him to be pulled over. There was not a car pulled over, not a truck wrapped around a tree, NOTHING! He was simply talking to some dude who was perfectly fine, crouched down by the officer's window.

I don't know what makes me more angry. The officer that was completely oblivious to the fact that his car was causing traffic to bottleneck, or the oblivions (that's what Abbey and I call people without a clue) that were so worried about what the officer was doing, they slowed down!

I could not find a picture of the metro police cars (they are white Impalas with a blue stripe), so you will just have to imagine one of these mounted officers in a police car and not on top of an appaloosa.

LandLife News

Yesterday I resigned my position at church. See the excerpt below to see where I am going!


Joining us as Editor in Chief for Bible Teaching for Kids Preteen resources is Jeff Land. Jeff currently serves as Preschool and Children's Minister at First Baptist Church, Joelton, TN. Jeff received a Bachelor of Social Work from Mississippi College and a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological seminary. Jeff has been accepted into the doctoral program at Southern Seminary. Along with his educational accomplishments, Jeff brings excellent church staff experience and has served as a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. Jeff has written for Bible Express, LeaderLife, ParentLife, in mINistry with Kids, and Bible Teaching for Kids, Broadly Graded. Jeff is a high energy leader with experience in retail management and a great passion for children and children's ministry. Jeff will begin serving on our team July 1, 2006.


This is very exciting and bittersweet at the same time. We really love the children at our church and really all of the people. We will miss serving on staff, but look forward to being able to "come to church" again!

We are not going to move or anything like that. Thankfully, the new job is in Nashville. I am excited about getting to drive downtown everyday. I love downtown Nashvegas! I will also be traveling some to lead conferences for LifeWay. That will be great experience as well.

Ode to a Moose

Vacation Bible School is almost over and I am tired. I am doing a little laundry right now, while watching "Gameshow Challenge". What a weird show!

The other night when we were decorating we had an extra inflatable moose. Because I don't like to do things in the normal fashion, simply putting him in the sanctuary would not do. So, with Martin on one side of the cat walk and Tony on the other, we devised a plan to hoist the gigantic moose into the air.

Using some brown yarn we lifted the moose high into the air. The moose flew into the air and has been there ever since. It is really interesting as seen in the picture above.


The other gigantic moose has stayed nestled in some trees by the baptistry. He is wearing a VBS t-shirt. A XXXL t-shirt that is.

Now here's a poem about the mooses (or is it meece?)

moose, moose so brown and tall.
did someone buy you at the mall?
inflatable mooses are so fun.
they don't grumble when they run.
we found them in clear plastic wrap.
i'm so tired i might take a nap.
where or where did the moose come from.
it's from lifeway for vbs dumb-dumb.

VBS Pictures

We're tired here at LandLife. It's been a great VBS week, but a really long one. The music this year for VBS has been some of the greatest. The kids are having a blast as well. So far, we're have 455 on Monday, 450 Tuesday, and 430 today. We're over the hump and now we are headed into the final two days of VBS. Then we're headed to Memphis to spend the night and chill out for a little while.




We have family night on Sunday night. It should be a lot of fun. Tonight at church we had "OMC" night or "Organized Mass Chaos". It was a blast. The kids had a lot of fun and there was shaving cream everywhere.

Blogger is moving really slow, of course, on the night that I am planning on posting a lot of pictures. We're also home early from church and there is nothing on TV to watch. I was watching the Braves, but Abbey didn't want to watch that.

Cookies

VBS started today and it was a blast. We had over 400 there and that was amazing. This is our biggest VBS ever. Mrs. Linda and Abbey came home to start baking Oatmeal Cookies for tomorrow's snack. There are several other people who are baking the cookies.


I think that Abbey and Mrs. Linda cooked about 200 of these cookies. Our house smells wonderful right now. I love the smell of fresh-baked cookies. There were kids everywhere today, so I am sure that they will devour all of the cookies tomorrow at VBS.


Are you salivating yet, ready to eat some cookies. Come to our church tomorrow and get some. Now, I think that we are all tired and so I feel like we'll be going to bed soon. If not bed, we'll probably take it easy for the rest of the evening.

After the dishes are done, that is.

VBS Tomorrow

It's finally here. VBS begins bright and early tomorrow at 8:30. We are going to have a blast. We've spent tons of time at the church decorating this week. I think that it will be a blast. I promise to post pictures soon!

"Spick" and Span Clean

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine, FRANK, rode in my car. He could not say enough about my car. Well, he could not say enough about how MESSY my Jeep was. This "Spick" and Span post is to show that I have cleaned my Jeep, I also cleaned Abbey's Highlander.



I cleaned the outside and then I cleaned the inside. The inside is clean and everything has been vacuumed. It was REALLY hot today while I was working on it.
When I was at the car wash, there were several interesting people. One of the most interesting was a family who was washing out their above ground pool liner. I've never seen that before.


I also have started trying to back Abbey's car into the garage like Frank does. I doubt this will last very long, because I don't actually understand the point.

Keep reading, posts for this week will be "VBS Decor" and "What Not to Wear: Cheatham County."

Radio Debut

Today was my "on-air" debut on 94 FM the Fish, here in Nashvegas. Our church was chosen church of the week. Part of that honor is that they will interview a person from the church staff live on the radio. I took Lindsey along for the fun.

It was a very interesting experience. Who knew that there was so much going on in those little broadcasting rooms. Doug and Kim were great. Anyone who listens to them on the radio, could probably already tell that though. They are just as funny in person as they are on the radio.

It was a really great time. I do want to apologize for the lack of posts for the past two days! VBS has me crazy. I think that my phone has rung a 1000 times today with different questions. Tomorrow the MIL comes and everything will be all better.

Alas, my love cometh again!

It was early this morning when she arrived home. I was really excited to see her. We quickly hugged and kissed when it was off to the church for Abbey to drop me off. Abbey had to swiftly leave to head to a conference that she had to go to for school.

When I talked to her during one of her breaks, she was absolutely thrilled to be at the conference. Everyone enjoys painful, dull speakers who are not well-prepared right? I think that the school systems could save a lot of money by getting one REALLY good trainer to videotape themselves and let the teachers watch it. So far tbis year, Abbey has not been to a conference she got a lot out of.


In other news, tonight ws had the pleasure of our new intern at church, Amanda to dinner with us at Chick-Fil-A. She is really nice, and of ccurse, we think she is great because not only is she from Mississippi, but she goes to Mississippi College. We were able to reminisce and talk about crazy professors. I think we will enjoy having a Mississippi girl around the church.

The painting is of some of the buildings on our beloved alma mater.

Checklist

1. Clean Garage: Done (even put an oscillating fan in the front of the garage like our super cool friends the Spickler's. It actually helps keep the air from becoming stagnant.)


2. Pressure wash the deck and seal it: Done (although I borrowed a friend's paint sprayer today and finished the lattice work. It took a lot less time, but it had a drawback. Now there are speckles all over the siding. I am assured that there is some chemical that will make it come off.)


3. Mow and weed-eat the yard: Done (and in the process I got to look at some pretty flowers in my yard. Also, I was mowing at the same time as my neighbor (the one that always blows his grass clippings in front of our house in the street :( He smoked ac cigar the whole time he was working on his yard. Now, that's talent! and he didn't blow his clippings to our house-front.)



4. Straighten Kitchen: Done (sorry, no pictures)
5. Do the laundry: Almost Done (Abbey says that the laundry is not done unless everything has been folded and put away. I am going to finish that up right now!)

6. Pick up my lady: Will be there at 8:00 AM in the morning with bells on (Boy, do I miss her when she's gone!)