yellow belt

Logan's promotion ceremony.

New Bows

The kids and Danielle got bows for Christmas.  

Grandma couldn't resist taking a turn.

Danielle and her pink Genesis Bow.

5 years

Hard to believe that we have been here in Georgia for over 5 years.

Yo Ho Ho Merry Christmas

We spent the past few nights working in the driveway on a float for the Christmas Parade.  The parents from Logan's Cub Scout pack turned a trainer into pirate ship.  It was a Yo-Ho-Ho Merry Christmas.  We went with the pirate ship because it was the theme for the local council for the year.  It's a money saver to re-use decorations.

Paige's 5th Birthday

Happy Birthday to Paige!!!!

YAY Pancakes!

OOHHHH an Elsa doll!

And an Elsa dress.

Hard ground

DAD!!!! The ground hit my face!

Making bread with grandpa

Grandpa took the opportunity to teach the kids how to make bread while he was here.  The kids had a great time.  Unfortunately, most of the pictures are a bit fuzzy.

Oh, look..... The pot we used to fry the turkey yesterday.  I bet I'll fit inside.

Yep, I fit.  Mom is really glad that the pot had been washed already.

Fried Turkey.

We decided to fry the turkey this year.  All in all it was a great success.  The bird was cooked in about a half hour and it cleared up the oven for baking everything else.  After watching it bubble I can see how people burn their houses down every year, and mine was never frozen.

We did set up the fryer about 20ft from the house in the driveway though, just in case.....

Turkey pickin

Thanksgiving is tomorrow so it is time to pick a turkey from the flock for Thanksgiving dinner

Go get em Logan!

Turkey was picked

and plucked.  We decided to inject some creole seasoning into it this year.  Now we wait until tomorrow for the bird to relax and the seasoning to marinate the meat.

Broken Dryer Switch

The switch on the Dryer broke about a year ago.  It's the safety switch that stops the dryer if it is opened.  We've been taping it down with "plans" of fixing it.  We have the home warranty but it's a $75 deductible and with the part only costing $6 I couldn't bring myself to pay for someone else to do it.  Well, to Danielle's pleasure, I finally got around to it.  

You start by removing the screws under the lint screen door

Then there are two clips under the front that you have to push in with a putty knife or other thin tool.

Picture of the clip after the top is popped off.

The clip itself is held on by 2 screws.  Once removed you can just unplug the old one and plug the new one in.  Reverse the process to put the dryer back together.

Flushing Goldie

With much sorrow we must announce the death of Goldie, the goldfish.  Unfortunately our drain doesn't lead to the ocean, just the septic tank and some anaerobic digestion.  Goodbye Goldie.

Agrirama in Tifton

We went to Agrirama today in Tifton.  They have a homeschool day once a month.  The kids get to dress up in bonnets and aprons for the girls and suspenders for the boys.

The kids also got to run some corn through the corn sheller.

Dog fence and weather vane

I decided to clean up the weeds near the deck today and when I was done saw this yellow wire wrapped around my weedwacker head.  The next hour was spent digging up the underground fence to try and find the break.  It's spliced back together and working again.

Once the underground fence was repaired we went out and screwed the weather vane on the top of Danielle's chicken coop.  It may have taken 3 years but it's finally installed.

First Fish

We were at Wal-Mart today and thought we would pick up a fish for the kids.  If you buy a glass bowl in the fish tank area you're going to pay about twice what a glass bowl near the fabric costs.  So we got a glass bowl and beads from the floral section.

The fish isn't really that big, the glass magnified him.

Chicken stock

After making all that soup last week we had some celery and carrots left in the fridge that needed to be used up.  We also have a freezer full of chicken backs.  Time to make some more stock.

12 chicken backs

2 onions, some baby carrots and some celery.

Added to 9 quarts of water with some salt, let it simmer all afternoon and hopefully we'll get 7 quarts of stock tomorrow after it cools and we scrape the fat off the top.

Hive stands built

The boxes for the hive stands have been sitting in the driveway for a few months.  I figured it was time to finish them today since it was in the 60s and the gnats are GONE!!!!.

Clamp the leg in place.

Give Logan a impact wrench and away he goes.

Finished stand, now we just have to level them in the apiary and get some more bees.

2012 Caravan Brake Job

This is on a front wheel.  Place wheel chocks behind rear wheel, jack up front of van and place jack stand under vehicle.

Remove the wheel and look at the warped rotor.

This is the back of the caliper.  To remove it, unscrew the two largest bolts.  This will take quite a bit of strength/cursing and ended up with me using a hammer on the wrench to loosen it.  Also, remember righty loosey, lefty tighty because it is on the opposite side of the caliper from you.

Once removed from the car, the caliper bracket will slide off the caliper.  Just make sure the boots snap back in place when you put it back on later.

Using a c clamp, or a wood clamp as in the picture, compress the piston back into the caliper.  WARNING: DO NOT do this to the rear pistons.  The rear pistons require a special tool due to the emergency brake.  The rear calipers rotate when they come out and have to be screwed back in.  Auto-Zone will "lend" you the tool required.

 Slide the caliper bracket back on, ensuring the rubber boots snap back in place.

Use a metal hanger to hang the caliper out of the way.  Don't let it hang from the brake line.  

Send the kids to your car because you don't want to get up and have them open the new rotor.  The new rotor is in a plastic bag and covered in oil.  Use a liberal amount of brake cleaner to get all the oil off.  Lubricating your brakes is never a good idea.

At this point I usually spend five minutes beating the old caliper with a deadblow hammer to break the rust free.  Of course, while I was trying to take pictures this one fell right off.  

Slide the new rotor on.

Put the caliper on with the new brake shoes.  Ensuring the 2 bolts are securely fastened, remember it took a hammer to get them off before.

Replace the wheel.  Remember, when you get in the car that the calipers were compressed all the way so pump the brake BEFORE you release the emergency brake.

Note: 52400 miles