What are they up to now?!

I walked outside yesterday to see this:


Our neighbor's son holding up a sign to passing cars...
and JT playing with his Diabolo on the driveway next to him.
Here is the sign:

HEY
WATCH THIS
YO-YO THINGY
1:00-3:15

Thirty Days of Thanks...

Neighbors! I am thankful for our neighbors. Yesterday they took JT and Luci for the afternoon, and I got to be by MYSELF. (Yeah, Bryan stayed here, but he was in the Man Cave playing a video game, so it was the same as being by myself.) I couldn't decide whether to take a nap or go grocery shopping. Or, go take a nap at the grocery store (that one had strong appeal!). I ended up getting some groceries and spending less than I normally do (another thing to be thankful for, little helpers were not sticking extra things into the buggy). Thank you, Butler Family!

In this same vein, I am thankful for all the people who've made this trip of John's bearable: the folks from church who were responsible for The 12 Days of Christmas last December; Diane, who took all three kids; the Cook's Pest Control people who made right on our mailbox; and several trips ago the people who helped empty our basement when it flooded (the Delano's and Woods' deserve golden crowns for that!), and JoAnne and the Hambly Family for taking children so I could have a little peace and Christmas shopping. And last, but certainly not least, the men who did the Bush Hogging in the field next to us on Wednesday, Veterans' Day--They did not charge us anything for our portion of it. Nothing. They just said "Thank you" to John for serving our country.

Our hill before:
and after, ready for a good snowfall and some sledding!

Everyday Heroes

Last week, a guy driving one of these trucks hit our mailbox--he was swerving to avoid a dog in the road. I knew the box had been hit, but didn't know who did it. It's been hit before and we just stand the thing upright and the mailbox still works. So I didn't think anything about it. The day after the box was damaged, two guys from Cook's Pest Control showed up at the front door and told me that one of the guys had hit the box.
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I told them thank you for coming forward, that was very nice. I was impressed that they did come tell me, because this sort of thing happens. We are on a hilly, curvy road and boxes just get hit occasionally. They offered to bring me a new mailbox and I said that was very kind, but it still was working and they didn't have to do that, and anyways, my husband is the one who'd put it up and he's overseas right now.
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Well. That did it. They said they'd bring me a new box. One of the men, James, gave me a business card, and said they'd call me about bringing out the new box.
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Today they showed up with a new box, complete with numbers, and put it up. With directions to call them if something isn't working with it.
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Everyday Heroes, indeed!




The cinder blocks were my idea...the post is in rocky ground and will not go deeper. If you need a bug man, call Cook's. If you are ever in Decatur, visit Cook's Natural History Museum. It's pretty neat.
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Guess who I'm calling when we need help with bugs?

Thank Goodness for Good Neighbors!

Bryan was mowing the yard today. He came in and told me the mower was stuck--on the steep hill at the side of the house. Thank goodness the big weeds are still there, otherwise I think the mower (and Bryan) would have kept on going and gotten hurt. John will have a COW when he sees these photos!


Colby came over with Clay (son) and Bama (dog) and pulled the mower out. YAY, Neighbor!


This was worth posting--Luci up close and personal with a BIG DOG and liking it, even though her body language says otherwise, she really was enjoying being brave.