Round Two

 

     As most of you know we are experiencing flooding issues again.  I know a lot of the area has been hit hard this morning by down pouring flooding rains.  As I awoke this morning to the loud sounds of heavy rain hitting our roof, the first thing I thought was not again.  If you read my previous blog, on the nineteenth of June our driveway and road was taken away by flood waters.

     I went to my front door, to open and see the same thing happening all over again.  But this time it was even worse.  I woke my husband up and we began to scramble to get the cars moved to higher grounds. 

     The waters were rushing once again with full force.  Large rocks and logs rolling down our lane.  The end of our lane completely under water.  I am like Gilligan on the island.  My husband got a pick and tried to dig out a trench to redirect the waters, but nothing was seeming to help. 

    Our driveway, and where we normally park our cars is completely crumbling in front of our eyes.  My father in law arrived to try and help, but at this point so much water is coming down the road and the current is so strong, there isn’t much we can do, but sit and watch the earth crumbling and falling into the raging waters going down our drive.

     They have sent out a message that it is hazardous to drive thru the  town I live in, Reeds Spring, and have blocked most of the travel off due to flood waters.  The rain is still coming down and the waters still flowing at moch speeds.

    Finally the city workers have showed up to dig a trench with the back hoe, and it has redirected most of the water away from our drive.  We still have a terrible mess.  There is no way in or out of our drive at this time.  Needless to say, my husband, son, nephew, and father in law all are outside pushing rock to try and build up the drive.

 

353 words

10 minutes

Little Miss Tomato

 

     Last July, I entered my daughter Lillyan who was seven at the time, in the Reeds Spring first annual Little Miss Tomato contest.  The rules were you had to have a business sponsor your child.  I decorated a donation can and placed at a local video store.  It was based on a penny a vote.  All the money was going to be donated to the “Backpack Program” to benefit needy children for school supplies.

     I went to the Osh Gosh outlet at Tanger Mall in Branson and got Lillyan a pair of bib overhalls.  This was the required dress code the day of the pageant.  Any means of raising money was exceptable to help get a bigger donation.  So I baked about four dozen mini loaves of bread.    I made banana bread, banana chocolate chip, blueberry banana, pumpkin, zucchini, and pineapple zucchini.  I took the loaves to work and sold them for three dollars each or two for five dollars.  It seemed like I baked bread for weeks.  Before and after work I would be in my kitchen baking bread.  Family and church members also donated money for Lillyan’s can.

     It came time to collect the donation can at the video store.  My husband and I counted change for hours.  She had collected about ninety dollars in her can.  Then we counted stacks of one and five dollar bills that I had collected at my work.  All together she collected five-hundred and seventeen dollars and eleven cents.

     We went to place to drop off her donation can the next morning.  They had a couple of volunteers recount the money.  They were four other girls, beside Lillyan in the contest.  It came time to announce the winner.  Lillyan was the winner, the very first “Little Miss Tomato” she was so excited.  When the lady ahead of the church whom the money was given ask Lillyan what it meant to be “Little Miss Tomato”, my daughter made me very proud, she said “I’m glad I won, but it wasn’t the point of me winning, it was that I got to raise money for a lot of children who don’t have as many things as I have.”  My eyes glazed over with tears, to know that the qualities of life I am trying to instill in my children, they really are paying attention to and learning was a greatful moment for me.  Her father and I couldn’t have been more proud of the beautiful young lady we are raising.

 

 

421 Words  

10 minutes

My Car

     I recently purchased a used car.  A 2006 Chrysler Sebring, very nice car.  At first I was very happy with this car.  Recently the temp gauge got up to the half way mark, which is a little warmer than it normally runs.  Then on our way back from Branson one evening, the temp gauge got up to a half again and the car decided to shut down.  We were stranded at Best Buy for almost two hours.

     My father in law, who is a “Jack of all Trades” decided to look at he car.  I have a bleeder valve with he let a lot of air out, and then come to realize that the thermostat is probably sticking.  So we went to the auto parts store and purchased a new thermostat.  My husband and father in law planned on changing the thermostat themselves, however it was going to be a bigger project than expected.

     So I took my car to the auto mechanic and had them change my thermostat.  When my husband picked up my car, the mechanic told him, don’t let your wife drive this car, you have a busted front passenger tye-rod.  Wonderful, yet another problem.  So back to the auto parts store again, my husband and father in law were able to change this.  When buying  the car from a dealership in February, I was told the car was inspected and given an inspection tag.  However, this wasn’t the case, the car was never inspected, the tye-rod was completely crumbled inside the rubber boot. 

     Then this past week, I was going to come to OTC in Hollister, to take a proctored exam, my father in law asks before I was leaving, “Have you checked the antifreeze levels since we had the thermostat changed?” No, because it had been running fine.  So he decided to check it.  I get to IHOP in Branson and the car is steaming.   I pull over at the open lot next to Ripley’s to discover that the radiator cap hadn’t been all the way put back on by my father in law and all my antifreeze had sprayed out all over the top of my engine.  Steam was everywhere.  I decided to turn around and come back home, I made it to Walgreens in Branson West, and the temp gauge went all the way up to three quarters, I pulled over.  My husband and father in law came, I  got more antifreeze, back to the auto parts store, because now the cap isn’t fitting properly.   We filled the antifreeze back up and replaced the cap.

     The car seems to be running fine for now “Knock on Wood”, but I’m just gonna have to drive it and make sure.  I have had enough trouble with this car, and hope it all goes good from here on out.

  422 Words

10 minutes  

 

Independence Day

 

     The fourth of July, a day for cookouts, swimming pools, smores, and of course fireworks.  When we moved here to Missouri, I realized a big thing also to do is go to the lake on the fourth of July.

     Every year, we try and make the day special.  After all it is the day that our wonderful America got their Independence from King George.  It is considered Amercia’s birthday.  And by lighting up the sky is like lighting up the top of a birthday cake.

     The first year we lived here, we went to the lake.  This was an awesome experience, however, traffic is horrendous here during the holidays.  You have to leave three hours early to get a good parking spot, then it takes three hours to drive a normal twenty minute drive home.

     I have found a spot, actually at my place of employment to watch the same fireworks, but no have to fight the traffic.  And the residents enjoy the company of the children, this helps to make their holiday a little more special as well.

    We drive up to my work, set up a blanket, take grilled hot dogs, chips, and drinks and have a night time picnic with the kids.  Then when we get home, we have our own birthday celebration.  The cost of fireworks at a fireworks stand is so expensive anymore.  So we have several friends and family members who all buy an assorted selection, then let them all off together.  I make the kids smores and they sit on the back of my husband’s pick-up and enjoy the show.

    Not only are we celebrating the freedom of our country, but we are making traditional memories with our children.

    I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday!

    And “Happy Birthday America.”

 

302 Words

10 minutes

Joshua’s Eye Surgery

 

     My son Joshua, is scheduled to see a pediatric eye specialist on July 27.  When Joshua was around two and a half years old, we noticed that his eyes would “wonder” in occasionally, especially when taking his picture.  At first, it was slightly noticeable, but has gotten more predominate over time.  My other two children also had the same issue when they were young, but they both grew out of it, with glasses. 

     So we decided to take him to the eye doctor and have his checked out.  The result was that he is a little near-sighted, but he has a condition where is eye muscles that control the movement of his eyes is too long.  We got him so glasses, which at first was an awful experience.  If you have small children with glasses you know what I’m talking about.  We went through three pair in almost eleven months.  Broken frames, broken ear piece, and when cleaning one pair I snapped them right in half.  After the adjustment period wore off, he now wears them fine.  But we have learned when he wants to take them off, we let him.  So we don’t find them broken in the corner somewhere.

     After two years of wearing glasses, the situation hasn’t corrected itself like we had hoped.  His right eye has gotten a lot better, but the left still pulls in.  Then we started taping the inside corners of his lenses with frosted tape to try and teach his brain to pull his eyes out and away from the tape, that unfortunately didn’t work either.  Sometimes they are completely fine, with no pulling in at all and then when he doesn’t focus any longer, then they pull in, not both at the same time, the eye doctor said that was one of the good things, his eyes alternate.  She said this meant it wasn’t straining just one of his eyes.

     My husband and I, have really debated on seeing the surgeon.  But I know if it isn’t corrected now he may never grow out of it, and may cause serious eye damage later on in his life.  The doctor has tried to reassure us it is a common surgery, recovery is two days at most, he will be an outpatient.  They will put him to sleep and snip the eye muscles to make them shorter to control movement.  But as a parent, I am extremely nervous about this.  But I know it’s for the best welfare of my child, and just pray that God will keep him safe.

 

 

430 Words

10 Minutes

Country Living

 

     Coming from the city, I never knew the tranquility of the country. I was always woke up to honking of horns, the sounds of sirens, or the familiar trash truck on Mondays.  When moving out here to Missouri, I can sit on my front deck and listen to nature.  The sounds of the creek flowing over the rocks.  The sounds of the birds chirping outside my windows.  The dogs barking from seeing our deer than run along the side of our woods or occasionally the armadillo’s that like to lurk around our property.

     It’s so peaceful here, knowing that I’m usually woke up by nature instead of the chaos of living in town is such a nice change.  Knowing I can let my children out to play without the cars racing past our home is also very nice.  It’s scary when you live in town and feel like you have to keep a leash on your children and they cannot run free and truly enjoy their childhood.

     The only thing about where I live that is not as good as living in town is that our mail is not brought to our home by a postal carrier.  Where I live, I have to have a post office box, and go into town daily to receive our mail.  This sometimes is an inconvience.

    All in all the pro’s of country living out weigh the con’s by far.  I am so glad I decieded for our family to make the move to the country.

 

254 Words

10 minutes

Our Dogs

     When my family and I decided to move here three years ago, it was a very hard decision.  It involved leaving the only family my children knew, to be with their other family that hadn’t ever really known.  It was a decision that took a while to come to a conclusion on rather stay or move.

     My daughter who was five at the time, always wanted a dog.  But we lived in town, and rented our property so was unable to have a dog.  Lillyan, my daughter, has always showed a compassionate heart for animals, I think she will grow up and be a veterinarian someday.

     So we promised her when we got out here to Missouri, from Indiana, we would go to the local shelters and get her a dog of her own.  The property we have here we own, and no one could tell us if we could have a dog or not.

     We went to a few shelters, but she didn’t find one she wanted, they were all too big, she wanted a puppy.  Only a few short weeks, after we got here, my father-in-law came to tell us that his blue healer dog was pregnant and Lilly could pick her own puppy out of the litter.  She was so excited, each day asking grandpa if Kellly, my father-in-laws dog, had had her puppies.

     The day came and we went up to my in-laws to see a litter of four little puppies.  There were three brown and one black pup.  At the time, we didn’t know what kind of dog she had bred with, but we soon found out it was a coyote.

      Lilly would go up every day and visit the puppies.  She decided she wanted the black one and his name would be Lou.  However, one of the brothers was always tagging along with Lou, so guess what?  We ended up with two puppies, we just couldn’t separate the two dogs.  The brown one she named Bo.  So now she has two male half blue healer and half coyote puppies.  They are now a part of our family, and my daughter couldn’t be more happy.

 

362 Words

10 Minutes