Building a Fence

Clint has been working his butt off the last three weekends to build a new fence with our neighbor.  We have a fairly large side yard between our house and our neighbor's, so we decided to move our fence closer to the front of the house in order to incorporate more of the front yard into the backyard.  We also needed to have a wider gate so we can buy a riding lawn mower.  Here are some before, during, and after pictures.

Front yard before fence it put up.

Clint and Mark using the auger to dig holes.  They dug close to 30 holes!

Backyard - between us and neighbors.  Old fence ripped down and  new runners are up.

Backyard section done!

Backyard looking to front yard.

Looking from backyard to front yard.

Backyard: old fence gone and new fence complete!

Looking from the front yard: side fence done separating the neighbors, and some of the front completed.  Old fence is still up in the background.

Front view - fence completed!

Clint with our neighbor - job well done!

Breaking Glass

Since I have been pregnant I have broken 10+ glass items.  I have lost count.  Clint looked it up online and there is an old wives tale that it could be a sign of good luck.  I think I am just more clumsy.


The worst glass I broke was by far a half-full bottle of Goldschlager that rolled out of the freezer, crashed all over the kitchen floor, and took over an hour to fully clean up.  The other night I broke Buoy's dog bowl.  Luckily it slipped from my hands inside the sink while I was putting some water in it.  Clint was so sweet and just jumped up and said he would take care of it.  Thank goodness, because I was about to lose it.  I was so frustrated with myself.


A few nights later, a very, very small piece of glass that gotten stuck in our floor mats caught my toe and sliced me open.  I was able to grab a paper towel and hobble to a chair.  Unfortunately, my huge, giant, big fat pregnant belly was limiting my ability to bend over to reach my foot.  It was quite the sight.  I was home alone, blood squirting from my toe, and I couldn't decide if I should call my neighbor to come and get the glass out of my toe or if I could do it.  I couldn't go get tweezers because I would have tracked blood all over the house.  I kept at it, having to bend down for a few seconds and then sit back up to catch my breath.  I finally got it out though.


Pregnancy lessons I learned?  Try really hard not to injure my feet or toes, because I can not reach them anymore.  Use plastic whenever possible.

Happy Halloween!

Clint and I have this life-size mad scientist for Halloween named "Dr. Shivers."  He used to move his head and say spooky (really funny) sayings like, "Let's play a game. It's called, 'Fun With Electricity! hahaa!' or 'I need a victim, I...I...I... mean volunteer."  He is pretty awesome.  He also has a microphone hook up so you can talk for him.


The first year in our house I had him on the front porch on a motion sensor.  I knew someone was coming when we started talking!  Of course, the first trick-or-treater to come was a 3-year-old little girl who started bawling crying because she was scared of Dr. Shivers.  The parents also felt the need to give me a lecture on how he was "too scary" to have on the porch like that.  Oh, brother!


Now Dr. Shivers stands in our front window during the month of October.  Everyone who comes by the house does a double take trying to figure out why that strange man is always in the window!  Here is a picture of him from that first year.

So, this year for Halloween, I didn't tell Clint my costume.  Well, I dressed up as Dr. Shivers!!  Clint's face was priceless when I walked out.

Although the trick-or-treaters this year were few and far between, it was still fun to sit on the driveway, hand out candy, and watch the families come by to take pictures with Dr. Shivers and some of our other decorations.  It is also neat when people compliment the house.  We had one mom tell us that her son makes them drive by every day, just so he can see our decorations!


This Halloween also made us even more excited for next Halloween when we will have our own little trick-or-treater to dress up and take to pumpkin patches!


Hope you had a spooktacular Halloween too!


Other guests that love Dr. Shivers....

Jeff & Dr. Shivers

My parents & Dr. Shivers