First Car Trouble, Nick Prepares to Return

As the second week of the new year winds down so does the time we have for our boys and Tanya to be with us. After the trip to Ideal Products on Tuesday Richard began packing to return to MLC. While he packed Gizmo had great fun completely destroying the brand new toy that Nick bought for him.

Gizmo is tenacious when it comes to playing with and destroying his toys. Unless it is taken away he will not stop until they are literally in shreds...

And nothing gives him greater joy than someone trying to take one away while he is busy shredding. He will hold on for dear life...

Thanks, Nick for making Gizmo a very happy boy (and for helping to clean up the mess.)

On Tuesday night Richard had to make a minor repair on his new car. The "check engine" light had come on during the drive to Oshkosh and a trip to O'Reilly's revealed that he needed to replace his thermostat. It's only a $10 dollar part and a quick fix...in theory. Richard and Nick worked on it together but in spite of their efforts it leaked. A second look at the thermostat by Richard and his "think tank" (Nick and Phil) ...

 revealed a broken ring.

 

After a quick replacement everything worked fine. What a great thing to have three sons with car repair skills!

Brian and Debbie, if you are reading this Nick wanted you to be sure to notice he is using his new pen light! It works great!

Bright and early Wednesday morning Richard had everything packed and he left for Minnesota...

 

Even Lexi and Libby stood at the door to say good-bye. They love Richard!

 

After Richard left I decided to drown my sorrows with a healthy breakfast of fruit...

...and then I got to work making cookies for Nick to give to Jimmy when he goes to see him in Virginia this weekend (chocolate with Reeses mini pieces, yum!) ...

 

While I was being very busy and productive Nick was "packing". "Packing" included making sure his helicopter battery was completely drained for storage until he returns in March. Of course the best place to drain the battery is in the kitchen, and the best method to drain the battery is to fly the helicopter over and around the dog kennel...which they don't like.

 

 

Lexi did a fair amount of barking and would have gladly gotten hold of it if she could have. Unfortunately for her Nick has gotten very good at controlling the helicopter. Now she will have to wait until March for another chance to attack it. She can only hope that maybe by then some of Nick's flying skills will have diminished.

While Nick and the dogs were having fun I managed to complete the cookies and get everything together for Jimmy's care package. In addition to the treats I'm also sending the lion Melissa decorated in his honor on Thanksgiving day when we (for that one time only) cheered for the Detroit Lions to win the game. We thought it would be better for Jimmy to have it than for it to remain in our Packer loyal house.

My next job was to patch up Nick's jeans that were torn on one of his junking trips in North Carolina.

While I was doing that Richard texted to say he made it back to Minnesota safely.

So now we have one safely back and two more to go. The house is already getting quieter and therefore a little sad. Nick and Tanya gave me this gift earlier this week and I love it. I completely agree with what it says...

 

I do have a few new things to think about though. For one thing, today at the grocery store I was extremely excited to find and buy this...

 

 

Yes, it is a "Where's Waldo?" doll! The back story is that when I was teaching I would use a doll similar to this one when I taught the letter "W". The kids in my class and I would have great fun taking turns hiding and looking for the doll. I bought this one to keep to have fun with grandkids some day, but in the meantime I think I'm going to use it on this blog.

 

I think it would be great fun to hide it in photos that I post. In fact there is one already hidden in this post (and no, it's not the photo directly above. That would be too easy!) Good luck searching for Waldo. Remember, sometimes only part of him may be visible.

 

The other thing I'm going to work on is wedding invitations. Tanya gave me ideas of what she is looking for and I'm hoping to get together really soon with a friend from church and get started. Between those and the PHDs I'm working on I will have plenty do keep me busy right up until the weddings. (Note: PHDs in my case refer to "projects half done"...and I have MANY.)

Yup, it is going to be way too quiet around here by the end of this week, but as I look back on the last few posts of all the things we were able to do together I can't help but be thankful to God for the blessing of my family. God has done great things for me.

Photo of the Day:

Scripture Verse of the Day:

"Look, I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and actions."

 

Jer. 18:11