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