Miss Leann

Just wanted to introduce you to Bobby's girlfriend Leann. We love her and she fits right in with our crazy gang. She unconditionally loves Bob's kids and vice versa. Don't be surprised to hear wedding bells soon.

Happy B-Day/ Happy Anniversary

Since tomorrow and the next few days will be busy I decided to wish my hubby a happy b-day and anniversary tonight. His b-day is tomorrow and our 36th anniversary is Tuesday. We are having a party for him tomorrow shortly after church. He knows about the party but doesn't know that his best friend Ernie and Ernie's brother John from Cincinnati are coming to surprise him. Ernie is a paraplegic (since he was 19)and is an awesome guy. He doesn't let his disability keep him from enjoying life and always has a smile on his face. He was one of the first 4 disabled hunters we hosted for deer season back in 2001. He and Jay immediately became the best of friends and usually spend at least a couple days each year turkey hunting and deer hunting.He has 4 children including twin boys and it amazes me how he takes care of them while his wife works.He is a bass fisherman and has been ranked #1 in the disabled Bass Masters Association. Like I said nothing gets him down and his favorite saying is "Life Is Good". He is a true inspiration to be around and it makes us appreciate all we take for granted in life. We are certainly glad God brought him into our life. So honey, I hope you have a great b-day and may it be a little more special with your buddy here. Love you!!!

So far so good!!

So far we still have power and no trees on the house altho some are really leaning. Jay has been out since early morning cutting up and removing trees from roads. The 911 dispatcher called early with reports of downed trees. Being a trustee is hectic during these kind of situations. He came home to change into dry clothes and then came another call and off he went again. We ended up with with 6" of snow , then 3/4inch of ice followed by rain/freezing rain and then another quick 4 inches of snow today. The real problem they say will be in the morning when all the slush freezes. There are several thousand people without power. The creeks are full and close to going over the road near us. The sun popped out a little while ago and I captured some beautiful pics to share with you.

ICESTORM!!!

We woke up this morning to 6" of fresh snow on the ground. It continued to snow until shortly after lunch and then turned to freezing rain. Freezing rain is still coming down and we are under an ice storm warning. We are in the middle of the area with the highest prediction of heavy ice. Our home is total electric and we have no backup heat. When we were on the farm we had a gas range and furnace. You could hook a generator up to run the fan on the furnace. We also were on American Electric Power which had a pretty good record of not experiencing power outages. Here we are on a C0-op which has a bad record of major outages. A few years ago when there was a major ice storm some people were without power for 2 to 4 weeks. Another thing that makes it worse in our area during an ice storm is the hilly terrain and trees that break down. We leave in the middle of a woods and are surrounded by trees. Makes you appreciate all the luxuries you take for granted during normal conditions.The weatherman says when this all melts then we will be under a flood watch. Until you see the mighty Ohio River go over its banks you have missed an amazing force of nature. We are pretty much stuck until it goes down. Ther is nothing but water from us to the state of West Virginia. Please pray that the weatherman is wrong and we don't get all they are predicting. I will update you after all the drama calms down.later

Winter Wonderland

It snowed all night here and we are under a Winter Storm Warning thru Wednesday morning. Expecting around 6 inches with some ice mixed in. No school today and most likely none tomorrow. Jay left early to deal with the roads . He is a township trustee and it is part of his job. I took some pics this morning that really show you how deep in a hollow we live. With the snow on you can see the heights of the hills that surround us. I also stuck in a pic of my "Cool" hard hat I talked about in my prior post. Being a "female" I have to be color coordinated so I have a red trimmed in black Carhart hooded coat and black Carhart bibs and I wear a white turtle neck under it. I have to be careful if and when I take my hardhat off at the jobsite as a lot of the guys on the construction crews have threatened to steal it. I rarely take it off once I put it on cause it leaves me with hard hat hair.I am not vain just self conscious. Can't wait for the comments on this post!! Love ya later

Time for a break

I have been up to my eyeballs the past couple weeks in year end paperwork. Unless you own your own business you can't appreciate how much bookwork it involves. I am not complaining tho especially when it seems every day I see on the news where another business is closing and more people are out of work. I am thankful for the type of business we have as everyone has electric and sooner or later it needs repaired. Locally the commercial building sales have remained steady and we have been blessed with getting a lot of contracts. As soon as the weather breaks we will be swamped and probably have to hire temporarily in order to keep up. That also means that i will have to leave the comfort of my warm house, put on my hardhat(which by the way is pretty cool looking) and be hands on at the job site. I kinda enjoy it if it isn't bitterly cold. I have taken breaks from my paperwork to work on a scrapbook for my hubby's b-day and our anniversary. I made him one for his 50th and it was about all his outdoor adventures since he was a child. This one is about our 36 plus years together and ended up being 37 pages long. It was fun going thru pics and it gave me the idea that when I catch up I am going to put together a slideshow of all my family from years ago so be prepared. I'll be sure to put captions on them so you will know who is who. Brooke tells me I have to post a pic with my post and I really didn't have anything lately so I am posting one I took from the deck last weekend of Jay ice fishing on the pond. He slides the boat out and fishes out of it on top of the ice. Not me!!! Later

Fun in the snow

Amy took the girls to her sis-in-law Robin's house so they could play in the snow with cousin Waylon. Looks like they had a blast. Enjoy the pics.

Very nice afternoon

After awakening to temps in the mid 30's and pouring the rain it turned out to be a beautiful day. The rain had stopped by the time we left church. Les and Rob asked if we would keep the kids while they went 4-wheeler riding with friends after church.Ethan spent most of his time with Papa outdoors. Brooke and I relaxed inside watching GSN.The 4-wheeler riders ended up here later in the afternoon after a several mile ride from their friend CH's property. They then continued on for another hour or more. I met up with Les later with the kids. I think Les was a little worried about the whole 4-wheelin scenario before they left but seemed to enjoy it tho. I know Rob did. If she had been riding with her brother-in-law Cory, she would have had a reason to worry. I rode with him one time and it didn't last long as I asked him to PLEASE let me off.Scared the "cadabors" out of me. Now Amy rides with him all the time and is not a bit afraid.I have seen them ramp a high clif and go airbourne and Amy calmly hangs on and laughs.She's a brave sole.We are to have one day of nice weather then ole man winter is to move in again.God blessed us again this week with the winning bid on another big commercial job.Looks like we will be very busy again this winter. YEA GOD!!! Later

Fun Sunday Afternoon

Happy Birthday Lou!!!

Just had to wish a special B-day to my "younger" sis. Here she is with 2 handsome men in her life -my son Bob and her grandson Gabe. Just want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am with all you have accomplished in your life. Also, congrats on the beautiful new grandaughter you have been blessed with. Hope you had a great day.

Christmas 2008

We had x-mas on Wednesday night because on x-mas day Bob's kids go with their mommy to her family and Cory and Amy spend the day at his family. For the past 10 years Les and Rob would go to his family on x-mas day before heading back to Indiana but this year his family is coming to their house on Saturday.The kids all had so much fun opening their gifts and it is so neat watching their faces as they do. They are as happy with a $1.00 gift as they are with something expensive. Jay and I spent x-mas day lounging around and reading books.We did finish getting a blueprint bid together that needed to be faxed in this morning.After we finish a bid , especially if it has a lot of $0000 behind it i usually take a deep breath, say a prayer and hit the send fax button. We leave it up to God as to whether we get it or not. There have been some that we didn't get and later down the road when the project starts we see why as there are problems with the project. So God knows best and he is looking out for us. Les, Rob and the kids came down for a while in the afternoon.I put together my first slide show and it is not quite perfect but I will figure it all out later. Enjoy.

Christmas Photos

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Polar Bear's everywhere

Quite a few years ago our former employer bid at a benefit silent auction for the first place tree and ended up getting it for a whopping $850.00. She decided we should have it. The theme was Polar Bear Express. It came permantly decorated which I have in the past couple years completely taken apart and revamped. It came with a big polar bear wreath, a big sleigh with a bear in it and an electric train set under the tree. I have been down with the stomach flu the past couple days but I mustered up enough energy yesterday to get it up. Thought I would share some pics with you.