CHL

On Saturday, I took a class to get my CHL. (CHL stands for concealed handgun license)

I took it from a friend, Justin Vowles (txconcealandcarry@gmail.com) and he did a great job teaching the information. It was in his home and fairly informal which made it nice and relaxed. The curriculum contained a lot of laws and statues, which would normally make it pretty boring, but Justin did a great job of adding funny videos in to make a point and break it up.

Personally, however, I am not a fan of guns. I feel really strongly that people should be allowed to own guns, not just for hunting, but also for personal protection. I also think that someday we may need to use our guns to protect our families, so I don't have a problem with buying guns and safely storing them in case they are needed. All of that being said, I really do not like shooting guns, it kind of freaks me out how loud and violent they are. I took this class because Joe really wanted me to, and honestly we have guns and so I thought it wasn't a bad idea for me to be licensed since I am around them. The shooting portion of the test was a little traumatic for me. It wasn't difficult, if you know how to shoot a gun and aim you should easily be able to do it, I just get freaked out about shooting guns. I even had trouble sleeping for a couple of days up to it, I was so nervous about it (yes, Tammy I have that problem too).

So, I passed, in fact my shooting score was 233/250, not bad considering how much my hands were shaking and at the beginning, my leg was even shaking, ha! Someone asked me if I planned to carry a gun around once I get my license and the answer is a very firm, very loud, NO! (but thanks for asking).

Oh, and in related news, Joe decided I needed a different gun to shoot with so he went out on Friday and bought me a new gun, but at least he didn't try to pass it off as a Christmas/birthday/anniversary gift.

Just for Fun

Sometime in November last year I found this cute foam kit to make a haunted house for $3. We did it last night for FHE. It was great fun and the kids could do most of it. Plus haunted houses are supposed to have crooked windows and doors!

We also got to eat caramel apples...mmmm!

The Rest of the Goat Story

I don't know if you remember, but back in February we bought some goats to clear our island. Joe had read that if you wanted to easily clear a parcel of land that you could put goats on it and they would eat everything that was within their reach. He further read that goats HATE the water and they don't swim, so he figured that since we needed an island cleared that he could put the goats on the island without a fence and leave them be and they would be set to clear it. They could drink the water in the lake when they got thirsty, and they could eat the vegetation on the island, so we wouldn't have to continuously feed them, so it would be a win/win situation.
Here is a picture of the island before we had the goats:
Here is a picture I took today, after the goats have done their work:

It was an adventure at first, however. Joe got the goats on a Saturday morning of a three day weekend. He took them up and carefully rowed them across to the island in our little aluminum boat, blindfolding them in the process- two people in the boat, one to hold the goat and one to row. He left them there overnight. The next day, we went up to spend the night at our cottage up there, and we all went out to the island to visit the goats. When we got back in the boat and rowed back to the land, we looked behind us and the goats were climbing in the water and swimming over to be with us. (they were pampered show goats before we got them and had never lived outside of a heated barn where they were constantly tended before so they were lonely).

This was so not part of the plan, so Joe had to do some quick thinking. He had previously built a metal shelter on the island so the goats had somewhere to get out of the rain, so he decided to temporarily put a gate on the shed and put them in it. That was a good solution for a few days, but he had to go up regularly to feed them and still didn't want to fence the island. We ended up putting a fence across the small area that the goats had swam from before, and started coming and going from the far side of the island. We kept them penned up for a couple of weeks so that they realized this was their new home, and then we let them roam the island freely.

They did great. When we would go out there we would check on them and supplement their food.

At first there were several people living on the lake that didn't like them. Someone told us that we couldn't just put goats on someone else's land (when Joe informed them that he owned the whole island they backed off). Things changed when people saw how docile and low mantenance the goats were. We were out there a couple of weeks ago and we saw someone ride a canoe over and stop on the island to pet the goats.
(Another cleared island shot:)

Today, Mohammed from Algeria came and purchased the goats. He didn't say it expressly, but it seemed like they were going to be dinner. Ellie and Nate kept saying very enthusiastically- "bye, goats!" I think that we will miss having them, really they were a great experience for us.

These last two are pictures of Joe and Adam bringing the goats across the water to sell them. Notice how you can see through the underbrush. The goats ate everything that was green on the island. There are still a lot of branches and sticks around, but Joe plans to take a hedge trimmer and trim it all up so that it is nice and clear, then I can only imagine the things those boys will think of to do on the island.

You know, if I tried I couldn't think up crazy stories that are as exciting as the things that happen because of Joe's brilliant ideas. Its a good thing I married him, otherwise I might find myself bored on occasion!

Our Weekend

We had a fun labor day weekend. As we were talking about what to do on the weekend, Joe suggested we spend it at our lake cottage. I thought he was joking...the kitchen sink was not installed and there is no bathroom mirror. (I know the second is minor, but how do you get ready for church without a bathroom mirror?) He said he could get the sink in within a few minutes of being there (translation, sometime during the first day) and I could use the mirror in the car. So we did! We went up Saturday morning and stayed until Monday afternoon. We even went to church from there....come to find out it only takes 5 more minutes to drive to church from the property as from our house.

We let the kids drive the little boat around on the lake by themselves. They thought it was great fun and spent a ton of time begging to be allowed to ride again.

Adam preferred to drive and Ellie and Michael put their hands out of the boat in the water. All three kids got a turn to drive, but Adam mostly demanded that he could be the driver. Nate wasn't allowed to go with them (for obvious reasons).

After they first took off I didn't see them for quite a few minutes and I was really worried, but they had just gone to the far end of the lake. They are good swimmers and had their life vests on so if they had to they could have floated back.

On Saturday night, we went fishing on Lake Conroe. We all went, but Ellie got a headache shortly after we got there so we came back and Joe and Adam stayed out later. They didn't catch anything, but they had fun.When the kids were in bed we could work on the house. It is amazing how much more work you can get done when the kids are in bed. Joe installed the sink as promised and he even got the dishwasher working. He also got the concrete backerboard up that we are going to put the backsplash on. You can see to the left of the sink some of the tiles we are going to use for the backsplash.
While I was out of town in the summer, he took out the laminate countertops and put in these silestone ones. They look really sharp, especially in contrast to the white cupboards. I'm excited, it is finally coming together and the end is in sight!

The other highlights of the weekend: Joe got his tractor stuck in the lake and I had to pull him out with the truck, I painted trim and caulked a bunch of trim and the kids spent time riding four wheelers and swimming in the lake. It has cooled off just a little, but enough to make it much more pleasant to spend time out at the property so I am sure we will be spending more time out there again.

The Hillbilly Boat

A few months ago, Joe decided that we needed a bigger boat. The boat that we had cost about $100 and if our whole family was in it, we would have 1" clearance between the top of the boat and the top of the water...it wasn't safe. It was only a 12 foot boat, and ran off an electric motor, which was great for riding at the lake we have property on, but not for anything else.

So he found this beauty:

It was a steal, probably because it looked really not good, but it has a great motor and a trailer, and...it is 16 foot. Its sides come up a little higher (but not if you put 10 people in it, as shown).

After he had it for a couple of months, he couldn't stand it anymore, the project itch just starting bugging him, so he had to "work on the boat." I though that would be to fix a few minor things, but no..it was a complete overhaul.
He started by stripping it down to basically its hull. He left the wiring in place, but took all of the trim off so he could paint it.

He primed it and then painted it gray. Unfortunately, when that was done he didn't like the way it looked.
It didn't look finished somehow.

He decided to make a large black stripe down the side.

Then he recarpeted the whole thing with green outdoor carpet. I didn't think I would be a fan, but it turned out nice.

Now is where he gets a little fancy...he bought vinyl lettering to put a couple of pinstripes down the side and put the name on the side of the boat. (Not that you've ever heard of the name, but it looks better with it on it).

He also repainted the engine and added decals and lettering to it.
He even put on a "fancy" decal on the center console.
He also got new boat seats, added spots for a couple of more boat seats, got new hardware on the hatches in the back, and made a rail in the back so the kids could sit and feel like they weren't going to fall off.

All said, it was a TON of work, but now it looks great. Instead of being a hillbilly boat, I would say it is definitely a top-notch redneck boat.

He even took the older three kids fishing in it last weekend, and it worked great. I expect for them to have many happy outings in it.

I'm just glad it is done so I can get my husband back.