Number three is on the way!! Here we go again, excitement, worry, no sleep the whole shibang. The first question is how are we getting our house ready for the new arrival. A new baby will bring many challenges to the average family – good challenges. The first for our three bedroom house was where to put the little guy. We could just go but a new house right…um…not really.

So what is the plan here? About three months ago we decided to get bunk beds for our other two children from a great furniture shop out in the woods. This has taken a little adjustment for the kids, but I think that I prefer their arrangement now because it has fostered a better relationship between the two of them. I would recommend bunk beds for any family for at least a little while.

Second thing changed in the house is the sudden influx of baby paraphernalia – swing, changing table, crib, baby toys, bassinets, etc. If you are purchasing this stuff for a third child I would recommend finding it at a baby resale store. We have several in our area they are called Once Upon A Child…they are great! The stuff that they carry is usually at least 50% off and it really is gently used (sometimes not used at all). Of course the easiest way to save money is just to save the stuff from the other children. We have done this to some extent but we have given some stuff away. Also, our children are spaced out a little more than most so we did end up having to pick up more stuff.

Lastly, if you have a house that is not child safe it is good to start thinking about what you can do to make it safer. Think about easily reachable glass items like pictures, vases, table lamps, ect…If your house is heavy laden with decorations it is a good idea to cut back a little until the child is older. Your decorations will take a beating if choose to leave them out, and they can be very dangerous to young hands and skin. Do you have any poisonous plants in your house? Its good to make sure you do not have any plants that may be poisonous in some way. Plants like glass will take a beating if you choose to leave them out, if the plant is not poisonous and you don’t mind missing leaves then go ahead and leave them out. – Make sure to put dangerous household cleaners out of reach. This is probably the first thing that you thought about. Cleaners and Medicine are extremely dangerous to children and should be either too high to reach or behind a locked cabinet door (child lock). It is good to keep poison control numbers handy – click here for a link to their site.
- I also recommend going to Lowe’s or Home Depot and looking at their child safety section, they have outlet covers, cabinet locks, child fences, etc. This area will help you determine what other things you may need to secure before the baby is moving around (this happens sooner than you think). This task can usually wait a couple of months but don’t wait too long because you will not have as much time after the baby is born…

I hope this helps some of you guys out…Thank you for reading

Luke

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It seems that the theme here in Charleston, South Carolina is when it rains it pours – every day. We have been a little soggy to say the least. The flat roof on the back of our house has been a pain, but leaking seemed to leave my thoughts as we had a very heavy snow last night. I was only thinking of our roof falling in on us while we were sleeping. This is not the most snow we have ever had but it certainly was accumulating faster than any snowstorm I have seen since living here.

This snowstorm started while I was at work and of course everyone there was skeptical as to whether anything was going to stick to the ground. We get snowfall here, but it only sticks once every five years or so. I left my place of employment around 10Pm only to find my car under 2 inches of snow, and it was still coming down at 1-2 inches an hour. I dug out the the keyhole and handle on my car and worked my way in. I sat in the seat, put my lunch box and back pack away, and turned the key to start my car. – Click, Click, Click…Click, Click, Click, (the car had a dead battery) – I have to be honest, I don’t really cuss too much, but at this moment I cannot promise that I had a pure heart or mouth for that matter. After a few phone calls and much fussing (at myself) someone came and gave my car a jump.

We woke up in the morning to several inches of snow on the ground and a fallen oak tree (from the weight of the snow). To my surprise the roof on the house did not even leak (the snow was very wet), or fall in thankfully. Now What does all of this have to do with building you ask?…Well I built the first snowman made by my hands since I lived in Colorado – Just for you guys that don’t know, that is a loooooong time.

I often forget how beautiful snow is, it was great to have just a little day and a half glimpse of what South Carolina would look like if it were farther north. All that being said, it is also a blessing to not have so much snow that you have to shovel it all the time:).

Thank You for reading,
Luke Spencer

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Yesterday, January the 12, 2010 there was a very bad earth quake in Haiti near Port au Prince. There are as many as 100,000 dead and it is estimated that 3 million are affected by this quake. This is a terrible tragedy that has been brought on a very poor country. I am posting this blog as information to anyone that has the ability to donate money and time for prayer. The people in this country need your help.

here are some links I have found that will help
Matt Fry C3 Church

Red Cross For Haiti

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa For Haiti

Joy of Jesus

Samaritans Purse

World Help.net

BloggersUnite For Haiti

Anderson Cooper 360 in Haiti

Yahoo! answers on Haiti

angelawd

Seacoast Church Response to The Quake 
- This is unlike any disaster we could experience in the US, we are a rich country able to take care of our own they are not

Read James 2:14 – 26 – Do what you can, but don’t just sit there. (Summarized)

Thank you for reading
Luke Spencer UPS information was not valid…this information has been deleted – thank you for the catch!

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I recently wrote a post about non-contact voltage detector under an electrical safety topic. This is a video to accompany the post, I hope it will make the function of this great tool easier to understand. Anyone that has shocked themselves will appreciate the heightened safety factor you will enjoy when you arm yourself with one of these tools.

Thank you for watching!…

Luke

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Do you have a home question that needs to be answered, and you can’t find a blog or website to answer your question. Many people use Yahoo! Answers, It is a site where you can get your questions answered in a hurry any time of the day. I of course would try to give a fast answer if you where to email, but I have to sleep, work and all that stuff (I like answering emails so I would love it if you sent me an email also). This website has been around for quite a while so it is filled with pro’s of all kinds (loonies visit sometimes so make sure to filter your information:)

If you are a blogger looking for some traffic, and you can answer someone’s question, this is a great site for you. I have mostly a information based blog – - home improvement by majority. This works good for the home and garden section. You may have a cell phone or computer blog that can match up with those categories.

One more good source for home improvement/repairs information is Houseblogs.net. I participate in this community and find that it is a good source for all things related to your home. — This is also a good blog community for those who write home improvement blogs.

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Sometimes it is tempting to run long connections of extension cords to get to a job site that is far from electricity.  There are at least two things you need to remember when this thought pops into your head.  The first is that you may be damaging your tool, and it certainly is not running at its maximum performance.  Secondly, if the run is long enough, you could start a fire or at least melt your extension cords.  This all occurs because resistance builds up in a wire as it gets longer and thinner.   The larger resistance caused more power to be expelled therefore causing heat.  I have attached a chart that I use at home whenever I am in doubt.  I hope this helps you on your next project.

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Usually you only run into three different kinds of screws when you are working on your house, the Philips, Slotted, and Hex Head. I have put together a little chart to help identify screws that don’t fall into the common household category. Most likely you will not run into many specialty screws in your house, but your vehicle is probably covered with them.

- Most of these screw head types can be accommodated with a bit purchased at any hardware store. If you cannot find the bit in the stores close to your house, I recommend using Amazon or E-bay.

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Here I go again…on the roof. I am making another trip onto my flat roof, and of course its leaking again. I know I have said it before but here it is again – Do Not Put A Flat Roof On Your House! -

Well I got up on the roof today with the intent to shoot a quick video, and of course ended up running out of gas for my torch. This is my first attempt at a video, I know its a little sorry but home improvement is much easier when you can see what is going on. This will be a new adventure for me and I hope it works well. If you guys have any hints or tips in this area, please let me know…I am of course going to keep on with everything else, but I would like to add DIY videos and more illustrated blogs….we’ll just see how this works.

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Hey everyone!…Merry Christmas from Popssurvivalguide.com!.

I hope all is well with everyone, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. I ended up having to work this Christmas, which is not at all what I wanted to do, but I am regardless thankful to have a job that pays the bills. We are having to split up our Christmas into little celebrations here and there…I have only seen The Christmas Story one time:)…

Now for all those who celebrate CHRISTmas

Why am I buying all this stuff for Christmas?…Whats up with the tree and all the Christmas cheer for all to hear.

Christmas when separated means “Christ” – Christ, “mas” celebration, or in English “The celebration of Christ”. The whole gift giving part of the tradition has been exaggerated since it has become financially rewarding to do so (not that it is bad to give gifts). Many holidays have been added to Christmas, and that is how we have ended up with Happy Holidays, which is the Wal-mart way of saying Merry Christmas. I think we need not to be too concerned with all the holidays or that every corporation has decided that it is politically incorrect to say Christmas. This is America, everyone including ourselves has the right to believe as they wish. Just remember when you are out in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Holiday that you don’t forget the reason for your season. This is the celebration of Christ, and for those of us that believe, He is life. Use this season to be thankful for what we have, and to give to those that have not. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t celebrate Christmas as always, just remember those who cannot celebrate in the way that you do and share a little piece of what you have.

Rejoice…the time has come again this year to celebrate Christmas!

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Do you need to square a large project like a deck or flooring layout? The Greek math guru Pythagoras came up with a simple rule to make a 90 degree angle. Its the 3-4-5 triangle. This is applied to a project by measuring 3 feet on one leg, 4 feet on the next leg the measuring the two new points to make sure they are 5 feet (the hypotenuse of the triangle – see figure). ***This equation can be multiplied by any number for larger triangles. For example: x 5 = 15 ,20 ,25 and x 10 = 30 ,40 ,50.

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