The Mountaineer

Well, we finally heard back from the dealership about Andrew's car. And guess what? There was absolutely nothing wrong with the windshield wipers. They checked them all day long and they work fine. Well, that is a little embarrasing. (I promise they weren't working before.) But, that didn't keep them from finding a long list of other things that were wrong. The major things they found were the two front ball joints. I believe Andrew can pinpoint the time that they broke while going over a speedbump (that was poorly marked, according to him). Ever since then, the car has been making a "thud" sound while driving. It sounds as if something is falling out of the car every few miles. Well, we tried to ignore the "thud" sound. But, apparently it could have killed us. Because, the next thing that would happen is that our front tires would fall off. Yep, just fall right off. And that wouldn't be good going 75 mph on the highway. So, even though this discovery kind of hurts the pockets. We are thankful that God made our windshield wipers stop working long enough for us to find this other problem. And on top of that, I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Yipee!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Well, I am a day late. But, I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Andrew and I both had a great day. We both got the day off because of the ice and snow. That was a wonderful first present. Then, Andrew got me flowers. But they were supposed to be delivered to school. So, we aren't sure where they are at this moment since school was closed. But, thanks honey, for the flowers. Andrew also surprised me with pottery lessons. So, soon we are going to be quite the creative and artsy family with lots of glass and clay accessories.

We tried to go to a movie yesterday, but by the time we got the car scraped off, the windshield wipers decided not to work. So, we had to scrape my car off. (The one day that we actually need a 4WD car, we can't use it.) It was a little more than an hour later that we finally pulled out of the parking lot. Needless to say, we missed the movie. But, we had a great dinner at Red Robin.

So, Andrew's car is in the shop today getting fixed. It is kind of good though because his door handle hasn't been working too well and it causes the lock to get stuck. It was kind of funny because the guy at the shop that had to move his car asked me if we were having any troubles with the lock. I told him, yes, and that I had already explained it to the guy at the desk. He said, "well, I just had to climb out the other side of the car because I couldn't open the door." I thought it was funny because he was a rather tall guy and I could just picture him stuck in Andrew's car. It just struck me funny.

Anyways, I am enjoying another snow day. And hoping for one more tomorrow. The roads are still kind of bad up here. So, it is still possible.

The Cavanaughs

We had a lot of fun on Saturday with the Kim and Ian. Ian is an old friend of Andrew's from Junior High and they met back up on MySpace. (So, myspace really is good for something.) They live in Harper's Ferry, WV which is only about 40 minutes away. So, we try to hang out every couple of months or so. This past Saturday we taught them how to play Settlers. (We have to get our practice in for the tournament in March.) Kim liked it so much she wanted to start another game at 2am. But, we decided we should go to bed so we could go to church in the morning.

This picture is from the last time they came to visit.


And no, I am not trying to look at Andrew's cards! By the way, I, Naomi, won the game. Watch out Nolls!

More Glassblowing

This is Andrew's latest piece. It reminds me of a dreamsicle. It is orange on the inside and then he put white on the outside. As he was putting on the white he dipped it into water and it made the crackle effect. Pretty cool huh? He also got me the sweet yellow tulips. awwwwww!

Valentine's Cactus

Most people get Christmas cactuses. Some actually bloom around Thanksgiving time. But, taaaadaaaa! We have a Valentine's cactus. Well, actually it is a Christmas cactus. It just didn't get the memo that it was supposed to start blooming 2 months ago. Hope you enjoy the beautiful blooms. (sorry for my lack of interesting subject matter.)

Glass Blowing

Andrew has found a new hobby that he loves maybe even more than fish. These next pictures show his progression from the beginner class through the intermediate class.

This picture is of his snowman. This is how he learned how to gather glass onto the pole.


After he learned how to gather glass, he learned how to blow the glass to make bowls.

He then learned how to make a vase. His didn't quite turn out like the teacher's (the second picture) But, it is really good for small flowers from our wildflower garden.

After he learned how to blow glass he learned how to add color using "Frit". (I am not sure if that is how to spell it.) He roles the piece he is making into little pieces of colored glass.

After his beginner class, he went in on his own to make a few things. He made a great tea light holder, candy dish, and we aren't sure what to do with the last piece.

During his intermediate class, he learned how to add solid colors instead of just rolling color on with the Frit. He also learned how to add feet and handles. He made a fun parfait and cappocino mug. He actually had a cup of hot chocolate out of his white mug.

I think this is my favorite piece.

During another intermediate class he learned how to make lines of color.

Sadly, he has finished his last intermediate class. So, I think he is ready for the advanced class.

Snow Day!

Well, we finally got our snow day! I didn't have to go to school today. So, I can finally update our blog. But, first I have to apologize for my lack of updating. There's nothing I dislike more than an un-updated blog (that's probably not true, but I do enjoy seeing updated blogs.) We haven't done to many exciting things lately. So, I have some pictures of some new things in our house.

I am sorry to let you know that Toby the Goby has died. We were gone one weekend and our heat stopped working and the tank got too cold for him. Andrew went out and got another one. He was so much small, we named him 50 "per"Cent. As soon as Andrew put him in the tank, somehow, and we are still not sure how, he got sucked into the pump. He made it out alive, but he didn't make it through the night. We think maybe Spot, our Domino Damsel, ate him. It is quite a violent life being a fish.

Despite our Goby trama, we decided to get a few other new things. We have a new Sun Polyp. Andrew got him while we were in Roanoke for New Year's Eve. He is really cool. The first picture is when he is all closed up. But, usually late at night or after Andrew feeds him, he opens way up and looks like a bunch of suns bursting out. It is pretty cool to think that this is really an animal even though it looks so much like a plant.

We also got a new Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. His name is Pepe' without the "le pew" because he doesn't really smell, because he isn't really a skunk. We have heard that sometimes these shrimp set up cleaning stations and fish just come to them to be cleaned. We haven't seen this yet. I think Spot (our fish) is a little scared of him, even thought he is trying to be really tough. But, I have seen him cleaning some of the coral. And he likes to clean his antenae A LOT. He kind of looks like a cat when they clean their ears, if you can picture that.

Well, speaking of fish tanks. Andrew finally got his 125 gallon tank off the floor. Him and a friend from bible study, Jim, worked on building the stand. It looks very nice and professional. It isn't done yet though. They still need to finish making doors and some trim for the bottom of the tank. Andrew got this tank from a Lay's potato chip guy for free. (About 2 years ago) So, we were a little scared to fill it with water. It would have been quite a mess if it leaked. But, it has been filled for a week and a half now and there has been no leaking. Now, Andrew is working on the filter system. So, it will probably be a while before there are any fish or plants in it. But, I will certainly keep you updated.

Andrew found this antique post office mail sorter off of Craig's List a while ago. It is pretty cool, but we could never find something to do with it. Andrew wanted to make it a spice rack for our kitchen. But, I thought it was a bit big. We finally decided to cut the bottom part off and use it on our desk to organize things.


So, now you can see it is sitting on our desk organizing things. We found some little boxes that fit perfectly in the cubbies. CD's also fit perfectly.



One last thing. Last time we went to IKEA, we found this Pinapple plant. We have to say, we have never grown a pineapple. Apparently they are very hard to grow. But, who wouldn't want a pineapple of their own. So, we bought it. When we got home we realized that is wasn't for human comsumption. Well, what is the point of growing a pineapple if you can't eat it. So, we waited until we thought it was ready, pretty much when it wouldn't stand up anymore, and we cut it up and Andrew ate it. It was only big enough for about 5 bites and it made Andrew's mouth feel really funny. But, he didn't get food poinsoning.