Spaghetti & the Doctor

My camera has died and i'm super sad about that. So, enjoy these iPhone pics, as that's what you'll be getting over the next few weeks, months, who knows!

MC had spaghetti for lunch last weekend, and I couldn't resist taking her picture when she was all finished.

She made such a mess!

But, she is so happy! She smiles anytime I pull out the camera, or iPhone... whatever.

On Monday, she had her 12 month well-baby check up. She weighs a whopping 17 lbs. She's in the 2nd percentile for weight! I just can't believe how tiny she really is. The doctor's aren't concerned. She's proportionate, and the doctor just said we'd check her again at her 18 month visit. 

G tagged along on the doctor visit. She was excited to be in the doctor's office, because she is in love with Doc McStuffins on Disney. She even pretended to be the doctor while we were waiting. And, she was very well behaved, so she received two stickers and a sucker!

MC did very well during the first half of her appointment. She thoroughly enjoyed taking the crayons out of the bowl and throwing them around everywhere.

Sadly, she had to receive 4 shots and have her blood taken (to check for anemia). She and I both cried.

This is her before all the bad stuff happened:

By: Unknown On 10.44

Continue Reading

LED DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT

 LED DAYTIME RM28
FOR DETAIL: CLICK HERE

By: Unknown On 09.28

Continue Reading

T-BOLT CLAMP RM10

By: Unknown On 07.59

Continue Reading

OIL COOLER FITTING AN8

By: Unknown On 07.53

Continue Reading

G's Dance Recital

G's dance recital was May 19th, and yes, i'm just now blogging about it! (Playing a bit of catch-up.)

I have to admit, that as a mom, this has been one of those days that I have really looked forward to. I kind of even compared it to her wedding, or a pageant, or some other huge event! 

G started dance last June when I was looking for a something to get us involved and meet people in our new town. She enjoyed it, and we decided to continue in a class this fall. 

It was so fun to watch her learn her dance steps and for her to come home and practice, and I admit, grown up conversation for an hour every week was so nice!

In January, their costumes were revealed, and I was so excited- they were gorgeous!

So, we practiced and practiced and continued our dance lessons, um, her dance lessons, until the day finally arrived in May!

Now, let me add that the week off her dance recital was the week that we were in Indiana. She missed her very last dance class, so I made her practice in the hotel with a video recording of the dance. We knew that we would have to leave early enough on Friday morning and drive the 12 hour trip straight through the day (of course with rest stops) but that we had to get back in that one day, because her rehearsal was Saturday morning with her recital the same evening, and she could not miss it! Thank goodness, DJ understood and he was more than willing for us to get home, for such an important event!

I'm going to back up a little, because Thursday night at the hotel, G was beginning to run a fever. We knew she wasn't feeling well, when she didn't eat dinner, and she crawled in bed by herself. She had 104. Y'all, i'm serious, I thought we'd end up in the hospital. But, thankfully, after alternating tylenol and motrin through the night and next morning, her fever had dropped. And, I was glad that we'd be stuck in the car for the next 12 hours, because that meant she wouldn't be moving around too much to get such high fever back again. 

So, now we are at Saturday morning, and she wakes me up telling me that her throat hurts, and of course she had another temperature. I gave her some tylenol, and told myself that we would try to get through the dress rehearsal and partially telling myself that she would be missing the recital that night. The one I had been looking forward to for four years (and maybe even a little before then.) And, I prepared my mom and stepdad (who were driving from Arkansas) that they might be driving for no reason. 

I ended up staying backstage with G during the rehearsal, and we survived. We went home for her to rest, but you know when grandparents are around, she didn't rest too much, and we continued to alternate tylenol and motrin and wipe her runny nose. 

By evening, she was feeling better, so we dolled her up again and headed out to the recital. My mom and I took G, and DJ, grandpa, and MC went to buy G her flowers. I never remembered getting dance recital flowers, but my mom swears I did. 

I stayed backstage with G for just a little while just to make sure that she would be ok. Unfortunately, a few tears were shed, but she was ok, so I left her in the hands of our stage mom, and dad. 

 Yup, our group had a stage dad. I think all of us moms were all in the same boat as I was- wanting to actually SEE their daughter's first dance recital. This dad was a genius when he brought his computer complete with LaLaLoopsy DVD. 

 My mom did a great job getting us seats, and we were all finally together, waiting. 

We brought puffs to keep MC quiet during the recital and just let her crawl around on the floor; anything to keep her happy.

Then, here she was!

 I'm not quiet the computer genius to add a video from my camcorder, but I promise it was adorbs! (Even though G stopped to pick her nose, and yes, she put her finger in her mouth.) But, she kept on dancing afterwards!

DJ and I went to pick her up after the recital and he surprised her with red roses.

 I think she was a little confused as to why she was getting flowers, but once we explained, she exclaimed, "Roses, my favorite!" 

 Since we were running late (we are always running late) we took photos afterwards. G's make up was just a little smeared around. 

And yes y'all, it was everything I had wanted it to be. She looked beautiful, she did a fabulous job, and I was so proud of her. Proud of her for learning a talent, for getting through her sickness, and for the way she looked on that stage. She was my beautiful little girl. And yes, I cried.

By: Unknown On 20.44

Continue Reading

The Indy Zoo!

When we were in Indiana a few weeks ago, we met some friends for a day at the zoo! Christi and I were both pregnant at the same time, and we were both on the What to Expect message boards. (The same board because our babies were due in the same month). 

After January 2008, rolled around, we finally realized we both lived in Indiana, and after getting to know each other better, we decided to meet! G and D (Christi's son) were 4 months old at the time! It's hard to believe that they are now 4 years old!

I told G that she had met D before and that we had been to the zoo before, and that we had been to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis together too. After our first meet up, we continued to get together at least once or twice a year. I was sad that we may not get that possibility this year, but our trip to Indianapolis was a perfect time!

The kids warmed right back up to each other- G never meets a stranger, and D is just the happiest kid on the planet. (Seriously.)

 I think G might have gotten a little too friendly with D! We are going to have to watch this girl as she gets older!

 D wanted to ride the train around the zoo, and it was something that we never did on our previous trips. We let the kids sit together, and Christi and I sat behind them with MC.

 MC had her first pigtails on our zoo trip!

 We had to get the kids pictures by the elephant exhibit- this has been an annual picture taking spot for us!

And, we went to the dolphin show, which is always so much fun! Indianapolis has the best zoo, with it's dolphin show, and pet the shark exhibit! Although, we've never actually been able to pet one (we're a wee bit too scared!)

The kids sat down together while Christi ran out to the car to get D's swimsuit; it was so cute to see them pull out the map and try to find all the exhibits that we had visited!

 We got the kids changed and took them to the splash pad at the zoo; another one of my favorite activities there!

 MC hung out in her stroller while the big kids played in the water.

D was so much fun to watch while he was playing in the water. He would run over and smile and laugh and exclaim in excitement all the fun he was having. It was just the most fun thing to watch and see; he's an awesome kid!

After the splash pad, we got the kids changed again and headed over to the gardens.

 ^^^^^ See, I told you i'm going to have to watch this girl!

 I had to take this squirrel pic for my Alpha Gam girls out there!

The kids had fun exploring the gardens and walking around. I love that we were able to spend this day together!

By: Unknown On 18.31

Continue Reading

Oil Cooler Basics

Design and importance of Oil Coolers

Contributed By: Enginebasics.com

To put it as simply as I can, an oil cooler is basically a radiator with oil running through it instead of water. Oil coolers are an important tool in keeping any well running motor continually running well even when pushed to the limit. Maintaining a proper oil temperature is important not only to keep the oil at its proper lubricating state, but also to aid the radiator in keeping the motor cool.

When surrounded by Porsche owners, sometimes we hear of “the good ole air cooled days” of Porsche motors. I know that even I thought this was incredible that these high performance motors could stay cool with no water-cooling, but just air, but the name hides the real story. The reality is that these motors ran upwards of 12 quarts of oil, some even as much as 16 quarts, with very large oil coolers. In reality these motors should have been called oil-cooled motors instead of air-cooled. This goes to show us how important an oil cooler can be to cooling a car.

Design of an Oil Cooler

Oil coolers come in many sizes just like radiators. Choosing a proper size is based on a few factors:
1. The capacity of oil in the system
2. The power output of the motor
3. The amount of air flow and space for the cooler
4. The size of the radiator

Each of the following above will play a key roll in deciding the size of oil cooler you will need for your car. As a basic rule of thumb, most drivers will add as big of an oil cooler as can fit in a space that receives good airflow, and then add a thermostat so that the oil can be kept at a proper temperature.

The oil cooler is designed to come in a one pass, two pass, or even triple pass design. This means the amount of times the oil will pass across the length of the cooler before it is aloud to exit. The idea being that the more passes the oil makes across the cooling front, the more heat the oil will be able to dissipate. Another important part of the design is inlet and outlet size. Be sure to choose a size that will not be too small and restrictive, as this will cause a drop in oil pressure. Most find that -8an or -10 an size fittings are sufficient. Also be sure to try and minimize length and number of bends in the oil lines as your run them to the coolers location.

Installation of an Oil Cooler

The best place to install an Oil Cooler is where it can receive a maximum amount of airflow, there by making the cooler as efficient as it can be. Most users know this, but I feel it needed to be stated anyway. Next comes running the lines to the cooler from the motor. The best place to tap into the oil supply system is at the oil filter. This is because the filter is just after the oil pump so the oil supply will have adequate pressure to move through the lines and cooler efficiently. Also this gives the oil cooler the opportunity to cool the oil before it is used by the engine, thereby making sure every part of the motor receives cooled oil at the proper temperature. Two of the best methods to adding the oil cooler lines to this part of the motor is by either a:

1. A sandwich plate

2. Filter Relocation Kit

1. With a sandwich plate you are basically putting a piece of metal with an input and output barb for the oil cooler, that is sandwiched between the block and the oil filter. This is an easy and great way to add the outputs you need when adding the oil cooler if you have the space to add a sandwich plate on the block.

2. A Filter Relocation Kit relocates the filter to another area. So why do we care about relocating a filter when we are talking about an oil cooler? With a relocation kit you use an adapter to screw in where the oil filter was on the block to run lines to another location where the filter will be. What this does though is gives us output lines, so that instead of running right to the oil filter, we can run to an oil cooler first and then to the filter and back to the block.

The Benefits

A car motor is happiest when it has good, clean, lubricating oil running through it. To do this oil wants to be between 180-210 degrees Fahrenheit. If the oil is to hot, it will start to break down and separate causing the oil to thin, and the oil pressure to drop to dangerous levels. Having oil that is to cold can be damaging as well since the oil will not be up to temperature and not at its proper viscosity level. The best solution is to add a thermostat controlled oil cooler. What the thermostat does is keep the oil cooler closed, and out of the loop, so that oil can be quickly brought up to temperature. Then the cooler is variably opened to maintain proper oil temperatures. If you opt to not install an oil cooler thermostat, just be sure to warm your car up a little before driving to give the oil time to heat up to a proper level.

You should now understand the basics of an oil cooler, and be able to install one on your car. If you have any questions or comments about this or other articles found here on enginebasics.com, be sure to contact us.

By: Unknown On 21.30

Continue Reading