Helmet in Progress

John has been airbrushing a helmet for Justin for his go-kart racing. It's really intense and intricite....you must have patience for this job! John and Bob have watched tons of videos on the subject and it's looking awesome! John is doing a great job! Here are some pictures of the helmet in progress!

Here is the flame part....

John spent over two hours taping over the flames. In order to paint the rest of the helmet he had to tape over the flames and use an exacto knife to slice around the tips and edges of the flamers and then pull off the tape around it....geez!

Here are the flames all covered up and ready for the next stage.....the solid colors on the back!

Here is John at Bob's house, in the back garage, painting in the paint booth!

Supplies!

A masterpiece in progress!

Here it is with the solid colors painted on the back. Now we're ready for the checkerboard pattern! Checkered flag style :-)

There is the checkerboard pattern! You can still see the blue tape around the flames, and the indentations of it under the silver part. Once the back is painted they will take all the tape off.

The helmet looks funny....it's literally just the shell. After you have painted your helmet, you send it back and they finish it up; put the foam in and the visor, vents etc!

Here is the green diamond pattern in the back. Originally there was another designed planned, but it just wouldn't work out (even though John tried VERY hard to get it to work!) so Justin chose this pattern and at the top part sticking up there he is putting Justin's name!!!

Here it is with the tape off and you can see the flames. Looking AWESOME!!!

Does any one remember "They're here"? LOL Jacob just loves watching NASCAR. It is so funny to see him try and grab the cars off the screen. It is all most to a point of being zombied on it. LOL He is AWESOME.

We have Fish!!!!

Today the fish arrived....yes, you can order anything on the internet now!!! We had one casualty; the puffer was DOA. All the others are doing great!

Here they all are in their bags, getting acclimated to our tank....

Blue-Green Chromis

Naso Blonde Tang

Flame Anglefish

Auriga and Saddleback Butterfly Fish

Dorrie!!! The Blue Tang.

Nemo!!!!! The Ocellaris Clownfish.

There is also a Coral Beauty Angelfish and Bicolor Pseudochromis, but we haven't gotten pictures of those yet! Yay!!!! The tank looks great and there is tons of room for more fish!! Justin (this was all a surprise for him; the arrival of the fish) and PSYCHED when he got home from school today!!!

We're almost there!

Jacob has really started "crusing" and he is doing great! He grabs onto furniture, side of the bed, chair etc. and has a great time walking. We've gotten to where he'll walk with us, holding only one of his hands, but he's a bit apprehensive at that. When we walk holding both of his hands he just squeals in delight. He's been walking with his train and having a blast!

Recent Happenings....

Not too much has been going on at Casa Hoekman.....I've been working full-time hours trying to help Longs have a smooth transition while it is taken over by CVS/Pharmacy. Going back has had it's ups and downs, but it's been great to be back with the girls! Next week I will be working full-time as well, as next week, Wednesday to be exact, we open as CVS/Pharmacy. Well...we will have a new pharmacy and registers (and all Longs product has been replaced with the CVS brand) but we won't have a new sign, outfits or shelving until later this summer...it should be quite the experience! I sure hope it goes smooth for all!!!

John got this great picture of a sunset a few days ago....gorgeous!!!!!


John got the lights in the tank now. So we are all set for fish....almost! The charcoal, water, sand/rock, lights and thermometer is all in it and whatever stuff you put in first! But....since it's enclosed (there may be more reasons as well) the water is running hot. If you open the cabinet doors it is really LOUD (it reminds me of the air conditioning unit I used to be able to hear outside my bedroom window at my Meemaw's house in Porterville) so opening the doors defeats the purpose of having them! John had to get a chiller which should be here next week. Once that is in, and we run it a bit we can get these special fish....now I can't remember their name, that you put in first to get the tank "ready". Then we can get fish! I'm getting a Dorrie!!! Woop!


John is working on painting Justin's racing helmet. He is going to do flames and then put a dragon on the back. He is nervous, being this is his first time doing anything like this, but I'm sure he can do it and it will look great!

For Jacob's birthday he got a Learning Pony...it's a great toy that goes through their growth of 12-36 months and has fun games (learning of course) and it's all about cause and reaction....this was his first time on it...I think we see more of John than anything, but he's getting the gist of it!!!

New Tank Pictures!

John got the lacquer on the doors today and they look great! It all blends in so well and we are on our way now! We just need some fish!

The Fish Tank!!!

John has been working hard, with occasional help from Justin, to get his old fish tank up and running. He built this great stand, covered it with veneer and had to use special polish to scrub the acrylic tank so it was clear again!

Here he is with a ton of pipe parts etc....

It's like a puzzle!!

Jacob wanted to help too....

Here are Jus and John mixing the salt with the water, after the rock, sand and coral are in, and filling the tank with the water!

Justin swore he could taste the salt!!! All we adults needed was the margarita to go with this!

Getting full!

All full!! Here are the cabinet doors before John got to lacquer them! They will be in the next post!