Appliances

Appliances are great right?  

They provide so many modern conveniences, make life simpler, save time, etc, etc. Right??

Well, that just may be, but what about when something goes wrong?  What then?

You get your handy husband to save the day, that's what!

Every year, something goes wrong with something in my outdoors laundry room.  Every year, we have to do something to make it all better.  This year has been the least dramatic yet....

Ooops, spoke too soon.  The washing Machine started leaking the other day.  I'd start the water, come back in a few minutes to drop in the laundry and voila! a puddle of water seeping from underneath the washer onto my floor.  Since it's not in my house, it's no biggy to me if water spills except for the thought of the floor rotting from underneath the washer and one bad day where I happen to start the laundry only for the floor to fall out from under me.  THAT would NOT be good.

After a week or two of this happening, I finally remember to tell the hubby that there is a leaking problem that seems to be getting worse.  Being the awesome husband that he is, he comes home from work early the next day and addresses said "problem" while Makenna and myself head off to the Library and "mommy day".  When we come home, he says he can't find the leak and there is my washer sitting on the porch. Nooooooo!

I decide that a leaking washer is better than buying a washer at this point, but he doesn't go for it.  A little while later and he has the washer taken apart and a little while after that, we discover that it's the water pump that's leaking.  He hands me the piece as I head out to pick up Alex and tells me where to check for a replacement.

After just a minute of entering the part shop, I'm given the replacement piece and a bill for ~$50~.  That's a lot of dough for a piece of plastic the size of a sandwich.  "OUCH!" I respond and the lady says "Yeah, just don't seem right, does it?".  No lady, no it does NOT seem right.  Especially because we could find another washer for $50 more.  But oh well, lets not waste what we can repair.  $50 is better than $100 plus we don't have a truck to pick up a new washer, and this one is fine otherwise.  Waste not, want not.....

In no time at all husband has the new part on, leaks are checked and are no more, and the casing is ready to go back on.  WOW what a pain to get that hunk of metal back together.  And need I remind you how COLD it was yesterday?  By dinner time, the great wonderful hubby has everything back together and back in its original spot.

Thank you hubby, I love you, you're the best! :)

AGAIN?!?!?

12:30 am greets me with my son climbing into my bed.  1:10am greets me with projectile vomit.  Yep, it hasn't even been a full week and this household gets another bug...YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!

It was only last Thursday morning that Buddy's fever of 102 finally broke thus ending our long streak of being sick.  I was feeling optimistic that we were finally over germs for a while ...only to have the following Thursday with greet us with another bug?

During Family Worship last night, Buddy begged to go to bed early because his tummy hurt and he was tired.  He concluded by saying that he didn't think he should go to school today....  We just figured he was tired from playing hard and his stomach was upset from eating that hot dog that he wanted for dinner.  And requesting not to go to school is just a normal kid thing to do right?  Last week he missed 2 days of school from being sick, and 1 this week because of Valentines Day, so I figured he got the idea from that and is learning how to "work the system".

As projectile vomit spewed all over me, my bed, and my room/hallway/bathroom there were a few things that I just had to be thankful for....

1. Not forcing myself to shower last night {I decided "why not wait until after I workout in the am?"} Good decision, yay me, little did I know that my laziness would pay off so well.  

2. For delaying one day in washing my sheets.  I HATE making beds, and was going to wash my sheets just yesterday but decided to 'wait until tomorrow', again, yay me for not waisting nice clean fresh sheets!

3. The kids were going to have a bath after Family Worship last night, and even enticing Buddy with that wouldn't keep him from going to bed...Yay Buddy for not making me give you 2 baths in just a few hours.

4.  Even though I am not thrilled that my son woke up, then came into our bed, THEN threw up everywhere, I am thankful that he did not start spewing vomit off of the side of his bunk bed onto his sister down below....that would have been a much grosser, fussier dilemma.

5. Thankful for that bowl next to my bed that I did not take into the kitchen last night, even though I did think about it for a long, solid minute.

So things worked out.  

There was my husband on the other hand....

As Buddy is in-between us gushing out vomit all over my unequipped hands, our bed, blankets, etc and as I fumble around to find that bowl.   There lies Husband in his half awake trance.  He slightly comes to while I'm yelling "whoa!" as the vomit starts overflowing from my hands, he wakes and kind of acknowledges what's going on...or at least I thought he did.  As I tell my son to 'get out of bed and make a dash for the toilet' though, he somehow thinks that all is over and falls back asleep...in a vomit soaked bed (easy gallon worth of vomit had just exploded from my sons mouth onto my bed).  After I safely got my son on the toilet and with a larger bowl in hand, I come back to my room to find him lying there asleep.  I had to tell him to get out of the bed.  So he does...he somehow manages to get up...walk into the living room...lie down on the couch...and fall fast asleep...{He'll probably wake up thinking "how did I get on the couch?" hahaha}

Now, don't get me wrong, I have a very loving husband, who in general is helpful and does what is needed when asked, but put him in the middle of the night and render him nearly useless (I love you Husband :) unless I REALLY need him, he can sleep through anything.  I feel that it must be payback.  

Payback for all of the times his alarm goes off at 3:30am and as he gets up to turn it off, he comes back to bed only to find that I have rolled over and am now drooling and snoring on HIS side of the bed and on HIS pillow.  Payback for all the nights he goes to sleep at 8:30 while I stay up for many more hours, then come to the room and start tapping away on the keyboard (as quietly as I can, mind you).  Payback for all the times I come to bed with freezing cold feet, legs, arms, body and attempt to "cuddle" with my very warm and toasty husband whom I think it too asleep to notice the ice cubes that just attacked him.  

He must savor those bitter moments for times like this.  The necessary mommy moments that call for me and me only to be the 'night in shining armor' for my children in need between the hours of 10pm and 7am.  Those are the mommy hours.  The hours where only mommy can do the multi-tasked necessities all mommies do so well.  

So lovingly, so gracefully, so.... artfully?  :)

It's been over an hour since Buddy has had to use the now deemed "bowl".  He is clean and resting on my now bare bed with a clean sheet, HIS quilt, and HIS pillow.  He's awake, but resting peacefully as I type away on my keyboard slightly chuckling to myself about the drama in the night.  Because that's all you can do when your house has been sick for almost ALL of the new year.  Laugh and hope that soon it will be over.  Find humor in all things.  If I'm going down a crazy woman, I'm going down laughing.

Good night all....or should I say Good Morning?

{no husbands were harmed in the making of this story}

Leaving Facebook

So today I decided to go for it and do what I've been wanting to do for a looong time.

I made the decision to leave Facebook.  There will be many things that I will miss: friends that I'm just getting to know, friends that I hadn't seen or heard from in YEARS I now get to "see" on a regular basis, and keeping up with current friends thoughts and goings on.

The pictures will be the hardest thing to leave behind.  Not only my friends' pictures but also my own.  In the fall of 2009, Alex accidentally deleted several months worth of pictures from our computer.  If it hadn't been for my saving them on Facebook, they would be gone forever.  So, saying goodbye to facebook means saying goodbye to many of my favorite shots of the kids.  I really need to order them but that requires money....

I will share a few of my favorite shots with you now, some I have on my computer, some I don't.  

Enjoy my little cuties, my bundles of joy, my rays of sunshine, and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!

Itsy Bitsy Sprider at Story Time

Accessory Queen :)

Tunnel at the park

Big cheesin with a cheeseburger

(Even though this is blurry, I love it...he and I had just finished sanding and painting his new desk and immediately after, I find him working away at it...the green paint in his hair is the perfect touch :)

(This is another blurry favorite...he had just bought those glasses and was LOVING them :)

YUM

A very excited boy checking out the big red fire truck

I love her eyes and teeny tiny pig tails

Working on the "cheese"

Love :)

And to end it all, a very happy couple, completely in love and proud parents to 2 very special kids :)

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my niece...Marlan picked up Delani today and I'm watching her while Marlan works.  I can't wait to see her it has been MONTHS..boo!

Have a great day :)

Sabrina

Last night I traveled to Greensboro to view Sabrina at the Carolina Theater with 2 of my favorite ladies (Sorry, forgot to take pictures).  I own both versions of  this movie and love them both.  I had never seen the ending of this version, though I have tried many times.  Every time I started it, it was so late at night and I was so tired, I never made it through.  Seeing it last night was awesome, I LOVE the ending, and it was worth waiting for to see on the big screen :)  

They are showing many of Audrey Hepburn's movies this week and I'm a tad jealous that I don't live closer to enjoy them all.  It was lovely seeing Audrey on the big screen, and don't you just LOVE this dress??

This is the Greensboro Carolina Theater, I look forward to returning in May to view 'Gone With The Wind'

Yesterday, I was pleased with the progress of the colds in this house.  Brandon, Alex and myself all seemed to be doing better.  By yesterday evening, Makenna was looking on the up and up.  This morning however, Alex woke up with a fever of 102.  Haven't we had enough already?!?!  

I must secretly confess that I highly enjoy the calm cuddle obsession that comes when they aren't feeling well.  So sweet and just wanting to be held and loved by mommy only for hours and hours... :-)

January is over...

The month of January has come and gone....

"What have we been doing?  Where have we been?" you ask.  

I know I have neglected my blog lately, and so, to catch you up on our wheres and whens, enjoy a few pictures of what our month was like.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, if that's the case, I have just written a short story...enjoy :)

Makenna in a tutu (normal day attire), back from the store, holding her red balloon....

Superman Alex to the rescue!

(I made this cape for him a while back and he asked me to put the superman 'S' on it, so I did :)  He is also wearing his 'superman costume' with his red underwear on the outside :)

Alex started writting out his comments for the meeting,

does he look proud or what?

I FINALLY got to meet baby Logan, Kasie's baby boy :)

He's the cutest little thing :)

We meet once a week to go walking, 

and here is Makenna waiting for us with her pigtails that are getting very LONG!

There was a 'Fancy Nancy' tea party at the Library

we HAD to look the part with fancy hair and a tutu...

Kalli and Claire are fancy friends that joined us in the fun...

If you have not read the Fancy Nancy books, 

you really must peruse them, 

she makes everything fancy dahling!

The Dreaded Dentist visit...

~cavity fillings, screaming child, screaming dentist, nitrous oxide that did not work~

worst 2 1/2 hours of his life!

Dinner with friends

Heather and Brian had us over

Makenna and Kaile had lots of fun

can't ya tell? :)

And to end this little story,

here are pictures from Alex's very first sleep over

this was the end of December, but I forgot to post pictures

The next day we went to Monkey Joes and Kalli and Claire joined us

(didn't get any shots of Makenna or Claire oops!)

There were other eventful things like having friends over to our house for some yummy turkey, story times, I got to have my little sister over for the weekend, going to the fam's house for dinner, Katie's back from South Africa... and many many more little tidbits in our lives, but I neglected the use of my camera during these times, so I have nothing more to show you now.

The story is over and we now move on to February, what is in store for us now?

{Brandon teases me for picture overkill, but it's MY blog, I'll picture it up if I want to :P }