Part 1 - a penguin, garbarge disposal, hot water tank and barf

I was looking forward to a relatively quiet weekend with my kids unlike last weekend which was packed full of adventure, extended family and lot of fun. See previous post. Colin has had to work seven days in a row, which is fairly uncommon for him, and his shifts have been EVERY evening and his commute is almost 3 hours to and from combined. I haven't seen much of him this week. Friday night was no different. We had some friends over, had pizza and and the kids watched Bolt. I can't remember how I killed the time between the time they left and the time I headed to bed, that being 11pm. I loaded the rest of the dishes and proceeded to clean out the sink. I turned on the garbage disposal. The smaller sink bubbled up with the water and would not drain down. I turned the disposal off and put my hand in to see what might be the problem. Nothing. I tried again. Same thing. I put my hand in one more time and pulled out a little toy penguin. I think Jack told me he put it in there. All this time I am on the phone with Colin. I looked under the sink and water had sprayed all over. I proceeded to pull everything out and see what was going on. The water was dripping from the plastic plumbing pipe to the pipe in the wall. I figured that I could do a little trouble shooting and fix it since I was guessing it was a clog. About 20 minutes in to this problem I hear a child walking around upstairs then Cole crying. Jack had gotten up and tried to find me in Cole's room. I really wanted to get back to the sink so I put Jack in my bed, nursed Cole and thankfully they both went back to sleep quickly. Back downstairs I worked some more. It was almost 12am and my patience was thin. I got back on the phone with Colin, told him I would work on it in the morning. While still talking I went to the basement to put a load of clothes in the dryer and opened the laundry room door to WATER on the FLOOR, soaking the laundry that was waiting to be washed and the carpet remanants that were down. My thoughts flew back to last summer when I damaged the PVC pipe that goes around the perimeter of the laundry room and carries the condensation from the A/C to the floor drain. I started scoping things out and soon realized that the water was slowly streaming from the hot water tank towards the drain in the floor that was about 15feet away. Ahhhhhh!!!! I didn't know at that moment what to do. I could see water dripping and leaking from the bottom of the tank in an almost steady stream. Colin wasn't sure what to do either. I got my home warranty book out and got on the phone. All I could do was make a claim with their automated system. No matter what I dialed or what I said I coudln't talk with a live person. HOwever, I knew I had to turn the water off before getting to bed. So, I called my Dad. He walked me through the process of turning off the water to the hot water tank, turning off the gas which always makes me nervous, and draining the water out. Thankfully the only things that were wet was a box with our 72 hour kits in it that happened to be in those giant zip lock bags, some laundry that I could immediately wash and the pieces of carpet that were heavy with water but I could just put them into the laundry sink close by. I called Colin back and off to bed I went. To be continued......

Easter weekend

Where to begin

We have had a great past week and a half!! It all started April 2 when David and Debby/Mom and Dad flew in for a week, plus a little more, with us. David came to help Colin build a fence and Debby came to do my laundry (thank you so much) and keep the kiddos entertained. We made a to do list and headed off to Lowes. We were there for about 2 hours. Mia, Jack and Cole were angels! I think because we played "Spy" and snuck around finding each other. I love that store! The weather was rainy so no fence work but David dug in to the list of things we wanted to get done around the house. He fixed the chandelier, it was hanging by the cord and not the links, installed a new faucet on the wash tub in the laundry room, it was running hot water, installed a "T" at the drain for the washing machine, put pulls on all the kitchen cabinents ( I LOVE THEM!), caulked like crazy all the gaps, fixed outlet plates, installed a light for our deck.

It was sooooooo cold this day. The soda bottle invention was mine. Mia was very proud of me

These, and more, occured over the time they were here but the hard work was the 2 1/2 days of fence post digging, leveling, measuring and cementing the posts for the fence. The weather was sooooo cold and windy Saturday but we got out there, scooped the water out of the holes while Colin and David finished digging them to 30 inches deep. Yes, 30 inches, so they would pass inspection from the city. It snowed over the weekend and accumulated over three days. Tuesday the weather warmed, they got the posts set and leveled and started the cement.

There were 35 bags of concrete, each weighing 80 pounds. With the posts it took two trips.


David always loves to leave a signature when he does things. He spent a cold day in the garage putting a bit of personal touch on the fence posts. Of course, it is thoughtful and tasteful. I really like it!

One day Jack and Mia played and played with each other so nicely. It was so cute to see Mia reading to Jack while he sat in Cole's baby tub.

Jack was in heaven and was sleepy. I just love how he snuggles!

It was so much fun to have David and Debby here! We love you!

Thank you for everything you did and helped with!!

Fun with Cole

Cole just has the best laugh. I just happened to get on here on video.

Here he is in the old school jumper. He LOVES it! It might make you a bit sick to watch it though. It does me. He used to squeel and squeel. Now he just growls.

Let's Party!

Here are the pictures from Jack's birthday party. We had a super-hero party for Jackson. He LOVES Spider-man, Iron-Man and Bat-Man. We found Spidey paper goods and a pinata, and an Iron-Man cake image. He had a great time! Mia was a great helper every step of the way. I just can't believe he is 3 now but that is how it goes right?

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Yesterday was Jackson's 3rd birthday. Happy day buddy! We has a Spider-Man party, pictures to come, with his nursery pals. We had a great time. Jack is such a loving boy and has changed quite a bit in the last month. We started potty training a few weeks ago and he has caught on very well. There have been a few accidents but if we take him every so often he will go. He is even pooping on the potty!!! Happy birthday big guy!!! WE LOVE YOU!

Feed the Birds

We found this GREAT place to go and feed the birds. They eat right out of your hands you just have to stand there long enough and quietly enough and they hop on to your hand, grab a seed and hop right off. Colin and Mia were out there the longest and after a bit the birds were more comfortable. Both Jack and Mia had the birds hop on their hand. I went out with Mia and I had my gloves on and they came to me right away. I was certainly surprised. Maybe the gloves are less intimidating for the birds. It was a fun day, the kids had a great time. The folks that work there said it is better if you come on a cold day, the birds are looking for more food. They only do it January and February and only on Saturday's from 10-12. I can't wait to do it next year! Hint: Click on the pictures to really see the birds.

Quick and Easy!

For a quick and super yummy dinner idea go to http://thesistersdish.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to Bean and Cheese Burritos with Red Sauce. We had them tonight and even Mia liked them. I just used store tortillas but my MIL suggested the ones you cook up from Costco. I am going to try those!! Also, she didn't say how long to bake them but I did 30 minutes and thought that was great!!! Hope you like them!!!

Our newest additions

I have to say I am pretty excited about these babies! We were using a washer and dryer that were here when we bought our house. I have been doing about 10 loads of laundry a week. The old washer had a 2.4 cu ft capacity and was actually less than that because of the space the agitator took up. This one is a 3.4 cu ft. Imagine the loads I will be able to do! Imagine the water and energy we are saving. I know, it's a wordly posession but hey, we are going to be having more kids eventually and now I will have more time to spend with my family right? If only they could fold and put the clothes away for me! If only my laundry room looked like this instead of a dark basement.

Six months old now.

Our sweet baby is now six months old and I just can't believe it. He is such a happy guy who is a morning person. He's been sleeping longer and rolling and rolling. He loves the jumper and his exersaucer. Drool is his best friend. He still loves to be swaddled but hates his car seat. Anyone can get him to smile. He is such a joy to our family!!!

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