Crimson Tide Yacht...Let's Wrap This Up!

I had this wonderful fantasy of doing this Crimson Tide Yacht Series like a week apart....keeping the intrigued audience on the edge of their seats......last post was in October pertaining to this boat!!! I may have posted some of this info, but I can't remember, and have to type fast while baby is sleeping!

Keep up as I finish up.....

We needed trailer lights, some sort of floor covering (bed liner, carpet, tile) and new vinyl to replace the orange rotten liner!

Well, Bob (the neighbor who worked labor free for us on the floor and motor) got as far as he could go with the ole boat.....he had a summer trip planned. So, D just told people every where he went about the boat.

This guy at our church was talking to D about it, and somehow it came out that he could run those trailer lights for us. D asked how much would he charge us....and he said....you buy the parts....and be blessed!!!

That same guy came out and did the lights for us one evening....for free & a couple slices of pizza....and got em up and running.

That very same guy also was driving down to Florida on vacation this past July, and had a massive stroke while driving with his 5th wheel down the road. His wife managed to get the wheel, and they got him to a hospital. The arteries that go from his heart to his brain were 100 % blocked in one, and 98% blocked in the other. Another 2% and he'd have died. He woke up paralyzed on one side, and not able to speak. He now is back on our church platform playing his guitar...with full physical ability and slurred, limited speech. The good thing about God is that this man will be 100% restored! One of the things he can say now, "Be Blessed!"

Below are the pictures of the finished motor...foot and all. We painted the top of it white to match, ordered stickers for it, and she looks new!
For the flooring....after 100 opinions....I remembered that Noah's best friend's dad does flooring for a living, so I decided to call and see if they could order boat flooring and what he recommends. He said he'd bring the carpet samples by, and see what we liked. We went with grey. He gave us an estimate for the materials and left the labor spot blank....I figured great....it's probably one of those let's see as we go kinda things. I called and asked and he said, no....it's a $250.00 job for labor, but bring it to my house Saturday, and it's free!!! That's what friends do. This guy's wife also loaned me all of her maternity clothes, a cradle, and bought me lots of goodies at my baby shower. What lovely friends! We are so blessed to know them!

You can see below he also went up the sides of the walls with it too....very professional and better than orange vinyl. You can also see our seats below. Derrick wanted these so bad, but new in every catalog we could find, they are $200.00 a set, and we needed 2 sets. I couldn't see putting that much into it, but it was coming down to that. Then one day while out on his meter route, D saw these in a guys old shed. He asked the guy how much he'd charge. The man told D that he had another set also, white. The threads aren't identical, but almost. Both sets were still in the boxes, which , both boxes looked like they'd been there a while. D asked how much. They guy said $50.00 for both!!!! D said each? The guy said both!!! Talk about a miracle! We opened them and they looked brand new. And you really can't tell they aren't identical unless you are looking closely. They are back to back seats, white, and top of the line! And we paid a total of $50.00, rather than $400.00!!!

We were almost complete, but still needed the vinyl done. We have a local store, Fabrics by the Pound. I told D we should just go look. If the wood is still good under the orange, corroded vinyl, I may could recover it myself. He doubted it......ye of little faith! I got 'er done, and it doesn't look to shabby if I say so myself! Total cost $30.00. The estimate D got from a friend $1000.00 front to back vinyl replacement!!!

Total, we didn't put lots of money into our little yacht. We did have lots of love and friendship molded into it over a summer. We also had some good times (until it got closer to my due date!) and we look forward to more good times next year! D has always wanted a boat like this. It means so much to me that he got it! And has 0 payments, 0 debt on it! He works so hard, so I can stay at home with our children, and he deserves the desires of his heart as well.

I learned lots from this whole experience. First of all, friends are always good to have. You can never have too many. My prayer is that their blessing comes back to them 100 fold. God should totally honor that. Also, I did a lot of running around (driving around made it quicker!) and met a lot of people. It was nice for me, like the guy we got the foot from, he and his wife invited me in and visited with me. They have 2 boys (1 D went to school with) who are 6 years apart....we have lots in common! They were a sweet couple. I just feel like every where I went was for an appointed time. I don't think they were all coincidences. I saw things I was supposed to. I don't float along all "spiritual" or anything, but God did a lot through this experience for me. Opened my eyes to a few things. I am so thankful for it all. Some things I'm not sharing about my learning experience, I don't feel I am supposed to, but just know that I am in awe of our King, He keeps pulling me closer with His ways.

And that's a wrap!!!

Repeat the Sounding Joy

Where oh where did November blogging go?!?!?

I'll have to tell you that I had all kinds of ideas I wanted to blog about, but I also have lots of "reason's why" I haven't......maybe after the new year I can get back on track!!!

In the meantime.....

We dressed like a pirate.....

We tried out for basketball with the Upward Organization...

Did a little nursing.....

Smiled a little while sitting like a big boy.....

Was not amused by sitting up in this big chair....

Had time for Noah to start a mustache......

And stayed all bundled up!!!!

Again, I do hope to blog more often upcoming, I really enjoy having my blog, but right now I am enjoying being mom to two precious boys, and wife to one hard-working man!!!

My camera rarely gets used, as a matter of fact, all of these pictures were taken with my cell phone. I just can't carry it all around. I do hope to remember to get some cute pictures at our many upcoming Christmas outings! I love to celebrate Jesus's birthday!!!

Stayed tuned......but don't hold your breath!!!

Mommy in the making???

Yes, that sweetie pie is me back in 1990....at 5 years old!

I want you to notice two things about this picture.

1. While I was "busy" with my play-doh, I was never too busy for a picture opportunity!!!

2. Please notice to the left of the picture, the little red-headed dolly, sitting in her high chair, with her bottle, and 3 jars of fisher-price baby food, and sitting right next to me!!!

Destined to be a mommy? I think so!

The goal???

Her children arise up, and call her blessed...-Proverbs 31:28a

PowWow and PowPows!!!

At our home, we do not like witches, ghosts, or mummies.....instead we choose to go to a fun time of food, games, and prizes at our church.

We call it Hallelujah Night.

I'm not sure who gets more excited, me or my little one.

This year, Noah again picked our outfits telling me, "Mom, you can be the cowboy,

and I can be the Indian. Nicholas, he can just be the horse!"

Well, I love a good challenge (I do not, nor have I ever bought our costumes, just don't have the money for it.) but I did have to leave baby Nicholas out this year. He can't hold his head up well enough to wear mane.

He did have on a onesie that reads, "Mommy's Little Monster!"
Here is "Little Bear." We thought that sounded like a good Indian Name....and it's been Noah's nickname since before he was born!

Here is Mr. Nicholas, wanting out of the carseat!!!


And below are the first place winners from the costume contest!!!!!

Looks like the red skinned savage got the ole pale face!!!
By the way, I look like my dad when he was about 18!!! hahaha

Also, Noah's shirt is actually a pillowcase with holes cut in it for the neck and arms!!! hahaha!

That's an arrow sticking out of my neck!

Until next year.....which we already have ideas for!

Crimson Tide Yacht, Part 4

So, I left off with Bob trying to get the motor running, and us trying to find reasonable flooring prices. I made trips round the county to find all of the little things needed to make the motor fire up. We needed one more small piece, found in Gulf Shores. The grease and all found in Bay Minette. A piece of the impeller had to be welded. It all took about 2 weeks.

The next thing Bob worked on was the ignition. There wasn't a key!!!! We called a locksmith to see about getting one made. He told us to go buy a new ignition. So, Bob to the rescue again. He hooked it right up for us.

Then the big day came. Us, Bob and his wife, and our other neighbors were all standing there, when Bob hooked the motor up to the hose, and fired her off! Cranked first time! Bob was so happy I thought he was gonna cry! Derrick had "something in his eye!" Bob's wife said, "Oh good, it works, go get your truck Derrick and get it outta here!" Poor Mrs. Bob. She sacrificed her husband for a lot of days. From the time he got up to the time he went to bed for about 2-3 months, he spent working on our boat. We'll never be able to thank him and his wife enough!

Back to the flooring. I checked high and low for reasonable prices. Couldn't find a one. But, that would have to wait...D wasted no time taking her out! We have a friend who lives in Orange Beach on the canal who was brave enough to go with D. He also gave Derrick an old oar and anchor. More money saved! When Derrick came back alive, I told him Noah and I would go with him next! We took the boat out looking just like this.....

The seat that came with it-unattached, 2 coolers as seats, an area run so the fiberglass wouldn't stick to our feet!!! You know, the good old fashioned way! This picture was when we were launching.

It was funny because I was worried about going without seats, but Noah was obviously not concerned!

And me and unborn baby boy were not about to get out in that brackish!!! But those two had a blast swimming that day, and we all had a great boat trip!

Check back for more details on the floor and the seats!

Who dat baaaaaaby?!?!?!

It's still so hard to believe that my oldest baby is now 7.

And it's even harder to believe I am old enough to have a son who is 7!
But this past Saturday we spent celebrating that boy, and he had a blast!
Family came from out of town, and that made us real proud!


We asked Noah what he wanted to do for his birthday and his answer was:

Play pin the tail on the donkey,

Have a pinata,

Do the limbo!

And he's been asking for a Sony PSP for 2 years now, both at his birthday and Christmas.

We finally decided it was time!

He really appreciated all of his gifts,

but his eyes lit up when he opened that PSP!

And of course, for my sweet baby boy, I wish you many more!

3 years

As I have mentioned before, the fall and winter are covered up with birthdays in our family. October 20th happens to be Mr. Anthony Cooper's big day!

3 years ago today, Aunt T was waiting for that little booger to arrive, and I can barely remember life before him! He is such an awesome little dude, and we are so proud of him!

Below is a picture of him, his parents, and his cake!

I absolutely love him blowing out his candle!

Getting ready to destroy that poor piece of cake!

Saying hi to Diego on the way to open presents!

And getting lots of goodies!

Happy Birthday Anthony Cooper!

I wish you many more!

October 14

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AWESOME HUSBAND!
HE'S AN AMAZING DADDY, A HARD WORKER, AND MY BEST FRIEND!

I LOVE YOU....FROM THE ONE AND ONLY MRS. DERRICK GIVENS!

Crimson Tide Yacht, Part 3

So, the next day, I was at the hardware store, tackling the list of items needed to make that boat floor new! Wood, screws, and the like. I actually met Bob up there, he wanted to make sure we got the prettiest pieces of lumber they had!!! He was going down his copy of the list, and he introduced me as his friend Tiffany!!! :)

So, what Ace didn't have, I ventured to Lowe's, Home Depot, and had to go to a speciality store to get the fiberglass resin. All the while, Bob was back at his house, with our boat in his shed, and his time away from his wife, cleaning out the bottom of our boat. He totally gutted it out, and started from scratch.

And of course, I have a connection with a nuts and bolts guy, and he and his lovely wife supplied lots of screws, nails, and nuts and washers!

And, Bob began work shortly there after. I would wake up in the mornings, get Noah off to school, look towards their home, and there he'd be, pulling the boat out of the shed and getting started on that days task.

Bob spent the next couple of weeks cutting boards, nailing, rearranging, and fiber glassing!

This was in the early spring, and the weather was wonderful, but it was still a whole lot of hard work. Precise work. And the whole time, Bob never asked for anything in return.

So, he got the floor finished. And it looked great. Custom built just for us! The next task would be the motor. The one without a foot!!!

Bob agreed to help us get it running, but didn't have the parts needed to do so. D began searching the corners of his brain to figure out who could help. Everyday, while reading his routes, D would talk to people who had boats, go to boat shops, and basically put out an all alert for the particular part we needed.

Then, one day, he happened to remember the dad of a guy D used to hang with, and so he looked him up in the phone book. Well, two days later, I'm at this man's boat motor graveyard, picking up the foot we needed. He and his wife are absolutely down to earth, wonderful people. They invited me in, just like family, gave Noah candy out of their granddaughter's candy stash, and visited with us. They also have 2 sons (grown of course) and they are also 6 years apart! We had lots to talk about!!! I feel like I met these folks for a reason, for such a time as this!

And, I brought it back to Bob, and he hooked it up. He gave us another small list of supplies (oil, gear grease, a battery, etc.) we would need to be in business. So, more shopping!!!

While I was getting these supplies, I mean the exact same day, D called me and said, meet me outside with some Mean Green Cleaner! I said, uh-oh. He was reading the meter of a guy out by fish river who was cleaning out his shed, and had a pile of life jackets (12-assorted sizes), a battery box, some safety flares, and maybe something else, I just can't remember. D reads this guys meter once a month, and knew this stuff had been sitting there, but he'd never seen the guy outside. This time, he was there with no where to run. D told the guy we'd just gotten a boat, a fixer-upper, and the guy said, well, you wouldn't wanna take that pile of junk off of my hands would ya? D said what junk? The guy replied, those life jackets, battery box, and safety flares!!! Um, hello! Life jackets are at least $10 a piece, and the battery box I had bought (and later returned!) was $25! So, with a little elbow grease, and Mean Green, it was all like new!

So, Bob continued working out the kinks of the motor. We began getting flooring estimates (carpet, spray-in, tile) and checking on seat prices! And this is where I'll stop for today!

You're how old?!?!

This is Nana. Otherwise known as Lois.

She is my maternal grandmother, and today she is 80!

Below are 2 pictures of her with my Paw-Paw, sometime in the 50s!!!

And yesterday, me and my two little ones went over to see her and take her a cake.....not today because she is working! Yep, she still works!



Happy Birthday to my NaNa!