Crawdads, Merry-go-rounds and my Lawler shirt.

The Brasfield Nation invaded Rock Springs Park in Lenoir City today.  Tucker caught a crawdad.  And the kids learned how to go faster on a merry-go-round.

Tucker's Crawdad:  There is a creek at the park.  It took Tucker about a minute to find a critter living in the water.  And seeing a critter is never good enough.  He has to catch it.

The strange thing is that he had a net tucked away in our van.  I didn't know there was a net in the van.  But he didn't even think twice.  He ran and got the net like greased lightening.

Here's the video of Tucker catching Fred.  (That's right.  He named it.)

The Merry-Go-Round:
The kids asked me to push.  Faster.  Faster!!  FASTER!!!!

So I taught them how to use centrifugal force to make themselves go faster.  In this video, watch closely after I stop pushing.  You'll hear a thump as Asher hits the deck and Riley moves toward the center.  At that point, they pick up so much speed that Tucker is not able to bring himself in.

We also threw some baseballs and sat on a bench.

My Jerry Lawler Shirt:
When we got home, the mail man delivered my Jerry Lawler shirt.  In case you don't know the situation, Jill ordered a shirt from my favorite pro wrestler, Jerry "The King" Lawler, for Valentine's Day.  She ordered in plenty of time, about a month before Val' Day.  When it didn't arrive on time, she contacted Lawler's website.  To make it up to me, Jerry Lawler himself called me on Val' Day.  He said he wanted me to know that Jilly had done it all right.  Additionally, he autographed the shirt and put it in the mail.

Jerry was supposed to be on Monday Night Raw on Feb 14.  But his mother passed away the day before.  So he was off taking care of funeral arrangements and family business.  He still called me, despite his personal situation.

Jerry Lawler is a WWE Hall of Famer.  Class of 2007.  I watched him on local Memphis TV when I was a teenager.  He retired from action and became a ringside commentator.  Recently, he came out of retirement and is due to fight for the WWE Championship tomorrow night against The Miz, on Pay Per View.

The shirt arrived just in time for me to wear it during the championship match.  I think I'll wear it to church tomorrow, too.

It was another good day for The Brasfield Nation.

God Bless,
Dadofmykids

Hooked for Life

Put the bobber in the fishing hole.  Sounds easy, but it proved hard for these kids.

Jill and I helped in the kids class at church tonight.  The second part of the class was done by David Orr, who is an avid fisherman.  He uses fishing to teach about relationship with Christ.

Tonight's game involved rolling a large rubber ball over the "rocks" and into the "fishing hole".  The kids had a blast with the competition.  Here's a video of Levi in the final round:

Levi finished in second place and won the ball (or bobber).  Brion took first and got a brand new rod and reel combo.

Great job, Orr!!

God bless,
Dadofmykids.

We went fishing today. Look at what we caught.

The weather was great, for February.  59 degree F.  Breezy.  Compared to the subfreezing temps of this winter, we thought Phil was right.

On the advise of an avid fisherman friend, we tried a new spot. It was under the bridge near the Ft. Loudon Dam, on the Maryville side.

I couldn't be sure, but it looks like Tilley was fishing for tweeters. 

Watch this video to see what Asher caught.  

In addition to the three above, Tucker, Riley, Kk, and Jack, were on the rocky banks with us.  They were all so excited to go fishing.  It would have been fun to catch some real fish.  But we had a good day regardless.

If you are able, take your kids fishing.  I know you may have important things to do.  But, you'll be glad you spent time with your kids instead.  Be sure to take along a camera.  Take pictures.  And celebrate even the smallest of catches.

God bless,

Dadofmykids

Kids should observe a Safety Zone at the bus stop.

Blount teen recovering after being hit by a school bus

WBIR reported this story about a student who was injured when her own school bus hit her.  Basically, it sounds like she may have been standing to close to the street when the bus arrived.  Read the story for yourself.  

We have three kids in our home who ride the bus.  I walk up to the bus stop with them and wait there till the bus picks them up.  Most of the other riders' parents wait in their cars, except for one who stands with us.  This leaves the safety of most of the riders on the other parent and me. Early in the year, the students had the habit of racing to be the first one to board.  Then there are those kids who sit in their cars till the bus turns the corner to start down our street.  This combination of racing and last minute dashes left the bus coming too close to some kids for my comfort.  So I teamed up with my neighbor parent to designate a Safety Zone.  

Our Safety Zone: 
At our particular bus stop, we stand in a neighbor's driveway.  There is a crack that conveniently marks off about six feet from the road.  We ask all the kids to stay out of the safety zone, directing them to scoot back, away from the road.  We also ask that they wait till the bus comes to a complete stop before moving toward it. The result has been, first of all, no one has gotten hurt.  Secondly, most mornings, the arrival of the bus has been with much less stress than before.  

The next kid who runs out in front of the bus at the last minute because they don't want to wait out in the cold with us may subject his/her parent to a parent-to-parent conference at the car.

Please teach your bus riders to stand back until it comes to a complete stop.  

God bless, 
Dadofmykids

Buckle up Bear!

Heater is working! Thanks to all for your tips. Here's what happened...

This morning, I posted this because our furnace wouldn't work.  It was kinda cold upstairs. 

When I got to work, I Googled "furnace won't come on" or something like that and studied several possibilities.  There was a video on YouTube about furnace repair.  It was boring and elementary; exactly what I needed.  In it, they showed the safety button. 

A few freinds mentioned the thermocouple, too.  After bracing myself to replace the thermocouple (or thermocoupler?), I came home and removed the access panel.  Looking it over with the flashlight, I saw the safety button.  Shazaam!!  I pushed it.  And, Holy Snapoly!!, the furnace fired up!  That's our button right there.

While doing this, I noticed how dirty the air filter was.  We have five separate filters on our two units combined.  So I replaced them all with new ones.  Maybe the safety button popped because the air couldn't circulate through the dirty filters, causing the furnace to overheat.  Idk.  Just a thought.


Thanks again to all my friends who called, texted, facebooked or spoke up, offering tips and assistance. 

Now, let's see if it will work through the night.

God bless you all,
Dadofmykids

Heat won't turn on. Suggestions for DIY please.

Before calling a professional HVAC man (or woman), I want your help to make sure I haven't overlooked anything here.  Our upstairs unit will not come on.  Thankfully, the downstairs unit is keeping the house warm enough, but it needs to be fixed.

So here are the symptoms:

• Thermostat was set to 67, but never came on.  It's a digital Honeywell and usually kicks on when it falls one degree.
• Pilot light is burning.
• Fan comes on when changed from AUTO to ON.
• Changed batteries in thermostat, letting it sit for five minutes with no batteries.  Replacement batteries are new.
• It makes no noises, such as clicking of an igniter or anything, unless I turn the fan to ON.

Besides removing the batteries, is there any kind of reset I can do on the thermostat?  I really think the problem is in the thermostat, although I admit this is not my expertise.

Thanks for helping.

Dadofmykids

Funeral talk with Laken.

She begged me to sit down and talk with her. So I did.  We went over all the junk I've told her. Junk like saying "open sesame" to the electric gate will make it open automatically. And stuff like Google reading your thoughts to complete a search from your cell phone.

After a few minutes, she said we should let her brain rest.  All the ideas were causing her head to expand.  So I offered a new idea for her to try:

"If you will hold one finger on a nostril and exhale kinda hard out the other nostril, it will relieve pressure on your brain,"  I said.  "Be sure and do both sides equally."  It worked so well, she tried to do both sides together.

She asked me to quit laughing at her.  But I couldn't.  

For those who don't know Laken, she is Jill's second cousin.  But our relationship is more like uncle/niece.  When Laken was little, she spent a lot of time with us.

Laken, if you read this, please know that I love you dearly.  You make me laugh.  We have fun at your expense, and you just play along.  You're a good sport.

It was unexpected fun and laughter on an otherwise gloomy day.

God bless,

Dadofmykids

The Brasfield Nation versus Paper Targets

This was our first time at the firing range.  Each one got to shoot a .38 Special from a distance of 15-20 feet.  The older kids shot from 20 feet, while the younger ones from 15 feet.  We had a lot of fun, although I admit there were a couple of our kids who made me nervous on the lane.  

I am very proud of their shooting abilities and their attention to safety.

Tilley took this picture of Tucker taking his first shot.  This was on the computer monitor just outside the firing range.  

Notice the nice shot groups; one group at the center of the chest, the other at the base of the head.  Nice shooting, Tucker!!

Riley was next.  We went in order by age; oldest to youngest.  I was probably telling him to keep it pointed down range at all times.  It looks like a security video from a gas station.

I took this one of Tilley.  They allowed me to have two kids at a time inside the range.  

Since Asher was paired with Tilley, I sat with Asher while Tilley was shooting.  Safety First!!

Asher won his battle against the paper man.  He was aiming for the head, obviously.

KK is such a girl.  She asked me to take the first shot for her.  Then another.  Then all of them.

Whatever gets the job done, KK.  Great job!!

I wish I could have taken a picture of Levi wearing his adult sized safety glasses and ear muffs, but

it wouldn't have been safe to let him hold the gun by himself while I took his picture shooting it.  So, we kind of did this together, with him standing on the bench, my arms around him, both of our fingers on the trigger at the same time.  

In my high school days, I was on the competition rifle team in JROTC.  I was blessed to win the Memphis City Champion award my senior year, among other awards.  We shot .22 caliber long rifles.  I loved it, but haven't been on a firing range since then, until today.

The kids are already asking me if we can go back next Saturday and do it again.  It was another good day for The Brasfield Nation.

God bless you all,

Dadofmykids

PS.  I want to dedicate this post to Jilly's papaw, who passed away last night.  What a strong man of God, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.  His example is worth following.

I love doing stuff like this to Tilley.

She thinks it's gross when Jilly and I hug, squeeze or kiss in front of her. We often hear unsolicited reactions from our kids.  Levi usually says, "Awwww".  Kk and Asher usually just grin.

So today, while Tilley was out shopping with her mom, she called to say that Jilly's phone battery was critically low and I should communicate through Tilley's phone, if needed.  "Okay", I said.

Then I sent this text message to Tilley:

I loved "barf" and "gross" in Tilley's reply.

Seriously though, it's all in fun. We keep reminding our kids that they are blessed to have parents who love each other. One of the all-time best gifts I can give to my kids is to love their mother in front of them.

I am not trying to change Tilley's attitude toward PDAs between her mom and me. At her age, it is appropriate to be grossed out. When she matures, she will find it appealing in the correct context.

Tell me about a time your kids reacted to you and your spouse.

God bless,
Dadofmykids