National Anthem

Kaitlyn loves standing at the open hotel door when the National Anthem and Taps are played each weekday. Yesterday I filmed her during the Anthem. Normally she stands still while it plays and has her right hand on her heart. With me not kneeling beside her things were a bit wonky. Don't mind the chili on her face. We were eating Frito pies beforehand.

Sorry it's sideways. I totally didn't think about it. At the very end you see her lips moving; she's trying to sing the words to the song.

Here's she's telling you she just heard the National Anthem.

Top Five Ways To Cut Your Electric Bill

I saw this on AOL this morning and wanted to share it with you all.

By AnnaMaria Andriotis,Reporter, SmartMoney.com

Using an air conditioner will keep you cool as the mercury rises this summer, but that's about the only relief it will bring.Cooling costs can comprise a sizable chunk of your electricity bill -- and this summer those costs are going to be even higher than last year. In fact, electricity prices are expected to increase 4.3% this year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

While there's nothing consumers can do to stop the utility companies from raising rates, there are ways to keep the electricity bill under control. Here are five ways to do so.

1. Program Your Thermostat Want to return to an air-conditioned home after a long day of work without leaving the A/C on full blast all day?By investing in a programmable thermostat, which costs anywhere from $35 to $115, you can program the air conditioner to turn off or raise the temperature while you're not at home and then kick in right before you return home. Doing so can help you save 10% on cooling and heating bills each year, says Ronnie Kweller, a spokeswoman with the Alliance to Save Energy. Another helpful hint: Close the blinds and shades to block the sun and keep it from heating up the room.

2. Buy Energy-Efficient Appliances Household appliances can eat up a lot of juice. When shopping for new appliances look for the Energy Star label. Buying products that meet Energy Star's criteria can save consumers up to 30%, or $700 a year, according to the EPA. Refrigerators, especially, can hog a lot of energy. Maria Vargas, spokeswoman for Energy Star suggests replacing any refrigerator that's 15 years old or older. New units consume 50% less energy than ones made in 1990, according to Energy Star’s most recent data. Can't afford to replace the refrigerator? Clean the coils beneath and behind your refrigerator regularly so it runs more efficiently, says Kweller. Also, refer to the owner's manual to find out the unit's recommended temperature and keep it set at that amount, she says.

3. Replace Light Bulbs One quick way to lower your electric bills is to replace your energy-hungry incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs. The initial cost is higher -- basic CFLs costs $2 to $5 apiece compared to around $1 for an incandescent bulb -- but they're far more efficient. Consumers can save up to $50 per CFL because they use about a quarter of the energy that incandescent light bulbs use and they can last up to 10 times as long, says Kweller.

4. Turn Off and Unplug Gadgets Even when they're not in use, cellphone chargers and laptops can really add to your electricity bill if you leave them plugged in all day long.Standby energy use accounts for 5% to 8% of all home-energy consumption and costs the average household $60 to $100 a year, says Kweller. Plug items that you use frequently, such as your computer or television, into a power strip that can be switched off before you leave the house. Also, enable your computer's "sleep mode" rather than letting it go to a screen saver. That small gesture can save up to $75 a year, according to the EPA.

5. Take Advantage of Tax Incentives Making energy-efficient improvements to your home is one way to reduce your electric bill and receive a gift from Uncle Sam. Thanks to the stimulus bill, homeowners can qualify for tax credits of up to 30% of the cost of making energy-efficient improvements for a total maximum one-time credit of $1,500.Of course, installing new doors or replacing the roof are pricey endeavors, so you want to make sure you know which items qualify before doling out the cash. For new insulation to qualify, for example, it must meet the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (check product labeling or call the manufacturer).

Craft Hope Update

I'm in the process of crocheting booties for the babies in India. So far I have three pairs finished. I finished the last three booties since Kaitlyn has been napping. If you want a quick and easy booties pattern to try hop on over to You Can Make This and check out Cara Scofield Designs. I'm using her Fanci-Flats: Crochet Slippers for Baby and Toddler pattern.

If you want to learn more about Craft Hope check out their website. If I can find where my camera went I will take some pictures of my pink booties.

Craft Hope

I just came across a great ministry that finds out needs of organizations then asks people to craft specific items that will be sent around the world. Their last project was handmade dolls going to orphanages in Nicaragua. Before that it was pillowcase dresses that went to Mexico. This time they are requesting everyone make booties, caps, and light weight blankets to keep newborns warm in India. Miracle Foundation will be taking all the handcrafted items with them on their trip to India.

If you want to know more about Craft Hope, would like to contribute or know someone who would you can check out their website.

I'm currently crocheting some booties to send in. BTW, booties are so quick to make, but with Kaitlyn and Neal around... it takes forever to make one. Last night I counted and recounted my stitches, but (grrrrr) if Neal didn't have to keep rattling off numbers over the phone. I finally gave up.

Small Victory

We have been "fighting" to stay in our hotel a bit longer for about a week now. When you initially move into TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility, or something like that) you are guaranteed 30 days of housing. To stay longer you must express your reason to the manager and BEG for a little more time. A little info for you... Most people have the chance to check out their new base before leaving their old. They have a little time to do a bit of house hunting then head back to their old base. Hopefully during their time at the new base they find a house and start working on buying it. When they officially arrive at their new base their house should be close to closing. People who are TDY (Temporary Duty; aka, Neal being at tech school) in route don't get the house hunting time before officially arriving. So here we are living in TLF waiting on our house to close, hoping we aren't shoved out in the street. When Neal gave the manager a letter the first time stating why we needed another month he was told they are booked. We were granted one day. Are you kidding me? One day?! We were told to call back to see if more days have opened. And so all week I have been calling back. For some reason the ladies who answer the phone have been giving me the run around. They won't even say if they have an opening, they just refer me to the manager who's never around. Today Neal went a round with them and they said they can fit us in until July 6th; this sure beats being out by the 29th. Now we just have to stay on them until we close at the end of next month. If we can't stay here then we will try to rent an actual hotel on base for Neal while Kaitlyn and I go back and stay with my parents.

On the house front we are hoping to close 30 days from today. Please pray this happens in record time so we can get our household goods back and stop fighting TLF. Can you imagine packing all your things up and not seeing it again for seven months?!!!! We have seen our things since Christmas. Please pray everything is okay. I keep picturing our poor waterbed, computer, and so forth in this high heat. Also, please pray for rain. We are having a serious drought here. What do I mean by serious??? The earth around the house we are buying has pulled away because it's so dry. Thankfully damage hasn't been done yet, but other homes are cracking because of this. We desperately need some good steady rain to moisten the ground. We are about to move to stage three on water conservation. The news said that will mean you can water your grass once every other week with a sprinkler. I have to question the point of watering if you can only do it every two weeks??? I mean really it will die anyway in the 100 degree heat we are having. On a random note when checking the weather on my Sprint phone it's starts the forecast off with "Awfully hot". Yes it is.

Father's Day Beach Trip

For Father's Day we went to the beach. I think we all had a blast. Kaitlyn was scared of the water at first, but once she warmed up to it she wanted in all the way. Neal said last night he thinks if he had gone in to his neck she would have been thrilled. I on the other hand... things live in that water. Sharks can swim up to knee deap water. I know what you're think... whose knee? Just count on about two feet. Those who scoff and say it will never happen, well that's their famous last words.

Because Kaitlyn wants me to keep helping her put together a cat puzzle we picked up from Walmart today I'm going to leave you with some pictures.

First setting foot in the water.

Checking out the water and testing the undertow; which was fine by the way.

Playing in the sand with daddy before heading back out in the water.

Sick Toddler

Kaitlyn has turned the corner!!! She has been sick since she woke up Saturday morning. She's had a fever of 103 to 104+. We could get it to come down with Tylenol and/or Motrin. By Monday night we noticed she had blisters in her mouth. We made our second trip to the ER that night.

Why the ER you ask??? Kaitlyn pediatrician is four hours away near my parents house. If we simply switch her pediatrician to a local one, which would be easy to do, we would lose her referral to Dr Brock her orthopedic surgeon. Neal was trying to work with our insurance to keep this from happening. After seeing the ER doctor and him learning our peds situation he told us to bring her back to the ER.

So we've done the high temps, mouth blisters, and congestion for five days. The last two came separately during the five days of high temps. Last night her nose started running like there was no tomorrow. We would barely get her nose clean and she was crying again saying she needed a tissue. Thankfully we didn't rub it raw, but we did clean a lot out. During the last five days we have been able to get some liquids down her, but anything solid hurts. She hasn't been eating. In two days she lost 2lbs so I'm curious how much she has lost now.

Last night she went to bed due for Tylenol. Her temp was in the 101 range so I held off giving her the med. I checked her before going to bed a couple hours later and she was cool!!! This morning her temp is in the 99 range. It looks like we are done with her being sick. She's still hoarse and sounds nasally. I'm hoping that won't last much longer. After talking with some friends it sounds like Kaitlyn had/has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. If that's the case it can still be in her diapers for a few months.

House Update

I just realized I never updated on our house offer... at least I don't think I did. Our offer was accepted. Being a foreclosure there was more to the process then normal. Even though our offer was accepted they were still accepting offers. We don't know if anyone else put a bid in, but they could have. We signed or initialed the papers they sent back then we waited. They said we would know in 24-48 hours if the house was ours; meaning they couldn't accept someones offer over ours. It actually took them a full week, plus a few hours to get back to us. I think if would be charged $50 a day for being late they should be too. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. We are now in our seven day option period. What's a bit bogus on our seven days is it started Friday, but they didn't de-winterize it until yesterday. So how can they start the countdown and not have the house ready for us?!!!!!!!!!!! We have an inspector coming today as we well as a termite inspector.

On to house colors... I'm now debating dark brown shutters with a dark red door. If I put stacked terracotta pots, spilling with greenery and flowers on either side of the garage the orange terracotta will really pop with the brown and red. The house would look something like this.

A couple things about this picture... This is a google image which was taken in a moving car. If you notice some of the lines, like the left side of the roof, aren't straight. The roof isn't really like that it's just the messed up picture. Also, the house doesn't currently have shutters. I drew those on in Paint and colored them brown. One last thing is the picture was taken on a bright day really washing everything out. The house is pale though.

Besides the stacked terracotta pots on either side of the driveway I would like to add a small tree to the front yard and some kind of plants between the garage and walkway.

Alright, I've been searching google images and I can't find a good example of the stacked terracotta pots I'm talking about. I was looking in a magazine recently that showed two normal pots stacked. They filled a large terracotta pot with potting soil, slipped a 5/8" piece of rebar down the middle, then threaded the bottom of a second small pot onto the rebar. You press the second pot down then lift it up and add more potting soil to the bottom pot as needed. You then fill the second pot with potting soil. Now that your pots are ready you add different flowers to the two pots. Make sure some are trailing plants so they will cascade down the side of the pots. The result in the magazine was awesome and it looked totally do able. I was on one website a few days ago that showed someone stacking 3-4 pots. Although it may look neat my only concern is the higher you go the more unstable it can be. Here's a set of instructions I just found for something along the same line. Only I wasn't proposing tipping the pots. I haven't read the instructions through, but I was thinking this would be more stable if the rebar goes down in the ground.

Laci's Party

Friday night we were at my parents house giving Kaitlyn some much needed Nana and Papa time. On Saturday we went to Laci's 2nd birthday party. Kaitlyn and Laci are the only two great-grand kids on my dad's side. They were born five months apart. The two girls are drastically different in size. Laci is a little petite girl who will one day be a petite woman while Kaitlyn is going to be a sky scraper. LOL... Okay there are women over 6', I know that, but she will be tall none the less hitting around 5'10 1/2". The girls have never sit still long enough when around each other to have their picture taken together. We couldn't get them both looking at the same time, but here's some attempts.

Notice Laci is closer to the camera, but Kaitlyn still looks a lot bigger.

Attempt one at getting the girls together. I knew Laci would cry if I held her so I gave her to her Nana. I thought Kaitlyn might cry, but goodness. She wasn't having anything to do with Aunt D.
Attempt two... Whatever! At least Aunt D and I are smiling.

Ahhh... toys... the wonderful thing that draws all children.
This is as good as it gets. When we saw the girls playing with the same toy we grabbed our cameras and started snapping photos.

For parents with kids who are about to be in or could possibly be put in a Rhino Cruiser Brace Kaitlyn is wearing one in the photos. She has on dark purple capris (pants are mandatory under the brace) so anything you see that isn't dark purple is the brace. The white in the front of the last photo is the foam and Velcro that wraps around the front of the brace. The dark blue in the second to last photo is the flexible plastic that makes the brace hold it's shape. What you're not seeing is the Velcro "belt" with a foam piece on the belly holding the brace up and on.

Bidding

We have put a bid in on a house. Now we wait.