Play Date

We don't know the name of this guy, but he comes over to play often.  He only wears a chain (that he breaks off of) around his neck.

Their game is steal the tree bark.  Jamocha is winning.  

It's good she has a 'big' friend to play and run with.

Sick Days

I am so thankful that I have sick days to use at work.  I have 46 or so in reserve.  However, I always feel guilty using them!  Canyon was out for 6 days in November (I believe) with pneumonia and I had to take one this week for a migraine and 2 more this week for Canyon and a stomach virus.  It's not been a good school year for health. 

Even though this picture looks bright and shiny, he had thrown up 8 times.  Oh joy!  The first took ALL day to clean because it was all over his bed, wall, carpet, dresser (inside and out), and toys.  I had to throw away 6-7 books and 2 stuffed animals.  Also had to wash 3 dresser drawers of clothes.  Not only was it projectile, having a loft bed over a dresser may not have been a great idea after all.  

WHAT A MESS!

Between dry-heaves and moaning, he slept.  Chloe and Malaki kept watch.

For dinner he was able to hold down 2 ounces of Sprite and 1/2 cup of cooked rice.

The next morning looked better!  He slept in until 8 and put his laundry away.  Watched movies on the couch with Chloe and ate toast and more Sprite.  

Looks like it's back to the grindstone tomorrow!

Suni's repair and release

Dad came to help with Suni.  It needed a new head gasket.  What a mess!  He showed up at noonish on Saturday and worked on the car until 11 pm with Sahara.

She has mechanic hands!

Sunday morning they finished up the loose ends and Monday we took it to get an oil change.  Everything seems to be working fine.

Ran it through the car wash and made 'for sale' posts on several facebook sites.

2 days later, a lowball offer was given and excepted. Because I have too much to do, too much stress, and too many bills to take care of, I basically took the first offer over $1000 that I got. 

Suni sold for $1,125 to the grandparents of a girl that goes to my kids High School. She is a year older than Canyon and the car is a surprise for her.  Funny it's going to be making the same high school trip, but call home somewhere new. Canyon will still see it in the parking lot. Hope he doesn't jump in and expect a ride home!! Haha

Next stop, getting the taxes paid on Sparki!

Positivity

Canyon's class is doing some project on Day of Positivity.

His teacher posted this picture of he and Pancho after they helped paint the Sponge Bob and Patrick backdrop.

Yes, my kid goes to school like that.  He is a man of many hats, literally... he has a lot of hats!

Meet Sparki

So 2015 did not start out so good.  Along with a lot of problems I don't want to go into right now, Sahara's car "Suni" bit the dust.  It was smoking/steaming really badly and overheating.  I mean pegged to as high as it would go.  We took it to the shop and were told it was the thermostat.  Pretty easy fix.  If only.  It turns out it was the head gasket and that is a $1300 fix.  The car's blue book value is only $1500.  SO.......spend what the car is worth to fix it or shop for something new???  

We shopped.

There was a Honda Civic that was a great option, but it sold the next day :(
There was a Ford Focus but she felt that it was awkward :(

Sahara did not even want to go look at the Sparks, she thought they were goofy.  But she did like the colors. (Lemonade, Denim, Grape, Lime, Jalapeno, Salsa...)

We pulled in the lot at 5:38 PM on Thursday, they had 2, a Lime and a Denim.  They were quite cute.  We test drove the 2014 Denim Blue and she fell in love!  It truly is like a little space capsule.  Everything is digital and glowing and super fun!
We took it back at 6:01 and the place had closed!  1 guy was left and he didn't even know a vehicle was out.  Haha, we could have just kept it!

Well, this girl of mine, while I was at work, did all the leg work!  She went to the bank and got approved for her loan.  She called the dealer and offered a price.  It was accepted!!
After work I went with her back to the dealership, her check in hand, and within an hour she was officially the proud owner of a new car!!

It's only a 4 seater, which we didn't even realize, but that's not really an issue.  It does not have a CD player (which is sort of a thing of the past anyway) but does have XM for a few months trial and Onstar for 6 months free.  It basically has a tablet built into the dash which is really cool and through her phone can be used to view anything on her phone including movies, music, phone... Way more then what is needed.

It is a 4 door with a hatch.  The back door handles are up higher on the side of the doors.

Weeks worth of groceries. No problemo! 

I'm so happy she has a reliable car and did this all on her own!

As for poor Suni, James says he will come next weekend and fix it to sell.  Supposedly he can get the parts for super cheap and knows how to do the work it needs.  It will be a savings of about $1150 compared to what the shop wants.  So, then it will be up for sale for what it's worth.  Which will be good so Sahara can pay the taxes on this one :}  

If he actually shows that is.

SHE GOT A NEW CAR!!!!!!!!

So proud

Awesome job Sahara!!!

Last year she was in remedial classes, this year she's on the Dean's List!

THAT'S SO AWESOME

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jared has been away ALL semester, hmmmm....I wonder if that has anything to do with it???

I love how proud this girl is making me :)

New Year's Eve - The Last Supper

Waiting for dinner time, Canyon gets help building the monster truck he got for Christmas.

Yay!  It even came with the Grave Digger stickers to make it look official :)

(I recommend these easy to construct Lowes or Home Depot projects for future gifts for him-he really liked putting it together and it was not too detailed that he need too much help) :)

When it was done, we dropped by the camp site to grab Nana and Papa for our last dinner together.  They head to Georgia in the morning.

Mango Margarita for Nana!

Thanks for the visit!  Thanks for the Christmas gifts!  Thanks for the B-Day gifts!  Thanks for the home projects!  

The kids and I stayed up til 1:30!  (Well, Canyon was put to bed at 12:20) 

Happy New Year to ALL!

29 and holding...again ;)

birthday selfie :)

Mom and Dad went shopping for my birthday dinner.  Yum Yum!!

In the afternoon, we took a trip up Mt. Nebo for some sight seeing.  It was VERY cold and windy.

Up at the door, you see Nana looking back in the gift shop to see if Papa was coming out for the view.

We didn't walk the rim trail, Too cold. 

Sunset Point

Part of the rim trail is along Sunset Point.

Very friendly deer live there.

Went back to Nana and Papa's camp and there were more deer.

16 in this heard walking under the trees.

M b-day gift from my kids :)

And from my sister (which I opened Christmas - oops!)

And from Mom and Dad...

shhhhh....it's a secret for now :)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then we went to Starbucks for dessert coffee.  We took Sahara's laptop and caught up on the blogs from Alaska and Georgia :)

Safe and Secure

This project took the better part of the whole day!  But now thanks to Nana and Papa, we have security screen doors for the carport...

and the front door :)

Also, a bonus!!!  The light installed in the carport was too low and the carport door would bump it.  So, I chose this smaller light and Papa installed it for me :)  It's perfect

Tour of Arkansas

Took a trip to Subiaco Abbey and the Wine Trail today.

This is Brother Andrew (or was it Brother Anthony??) Even though they were not doing regular tours (self guided tours only), he spotted us and took us around pointing out different areas of the Abbey and Academy.

Canyon and Nana on the gazebo swing.  Really pretty view.  Would be better if it were warm and green.

Papa, Canyon, and Nana check out the Grotto.

Sahara and Jared overlooking the monk cemetery.

Then we hit wine country.  First stop was just a hop down the road from the Abbey.  The owner was a former student at the Academy - 1st graduating class.

The Cowie Family Winery

They collect bells and supposedly this one with Canyon is the largest bell in the state.

Cowley is very tasty wine and Papa got a case.

We also went to Mount Bethel

Here Papa also got a case.

and Wiederkehr

Where here, papa got a.....you guessed it!  Case!

After we got home, it was a game of STIX and Jared went to a family thing.  

We went to Fat Daddy's for dinner.