Cuggle Poll

*Shout Out B & A for the cute picture*

Yes, I know that isn't how you spell cuddle. It's just how Kaitlyn says it. And I love it. So I don't try to correct her. :) I was thinking about this the other day, and I figured I would put it to a vote. My girls: Not so cuddly. They are a bit more cuddly now than they were as babies, but not the typical baby cuddles in our house. Then, my big boy came along. And he is a cuddler through and through. He loves to just sit in your lap (something the girls never did until recently). If you are laying on the floor, he toddles over, and lays down with you, spoon fashion (I don't think the girls ever did that). And, when I am putting him to bed, he will lay down in my arms and talk to me for at least 10 minutes in the semi darkness before I lay him down, still awake (again, the girls would lay for a total of 30 seconds before I put the wiggle worms down). So, I am wondering if it is a boy/girl thing, or just a personality thing. I put up a poll on the side. Take a second, cast a vote, and end my psychological back and forth. Thankyouverymuch.

Toothbrush Tango

We have a small bathroom. We have just one sink. Hubby and I usually end up brushing our teeth together before we go to bed. (May I just add I love my toothbrush holder? I think it is so cool, and well.... springy). But often, in the morning, I feel like I am intruding on our toothbrushes. Like I have just interrupted a toothbrush make out session.

Or inadvertently stopped them doing some kind of complicated dip in the toothbrush tango.

I'm just sayin'.

Marathon night of Plumbing

Everything is always more involved than you think. Am I right? Hubby and I needed to fix the element on the hot water heater. It was getting a little old taking tepid showers... Do it for a week or two and you'll see. Since we were going to have to drain the whole thing to replace the bottom element, we figured we would do a few extra things... Like add a cut off valve. Which in turn meant plumbing correctly for the washing machine. Which in turn meant actually attaching the wall to the floor and side wall. Which in turn meant going under the house to re-coupling something. Which in turn meant, well, you get the idea. But, in our heads, its always this simple, do it yourself activity that can hopefully be finished in a few hours. Right? All night plumbing and a 6am trip to Home Depot for one last missing piece later....

Kaitlyn, being her helpful, yet deathly afraid of loud noises, self.

Plumbing.
Accepting his plumbing Emmy award :) This piece of complicated piping allows access to the sump pumps, while allowing the lid to come off the barrel, the back up pump to come off, and the sewage pump pipe to pass right by. This is a work of art. Truly.

I like to call this piece "The Discharge". The deep purples represent the anger and frustration brought on by PVC primer, while the dirty finger streaks represent the hope that one day we will actually be finished. I give you "The Discharge."

You just don't truly understand this princess until you see her in all her glory. Mussed up hair. Ratty old t-shirt. Heavy duty ear protection. And heels. Can't forget the heels.

And hubby's poor finger. He sacrificed his finger for the house. Its so sweet.

In all actuality, I am fairly certain it was a small 3rd degree burn from some solder that fell off the pipe. Thankfully it was small, and the scar tissue should heal it up well enough. Also thankfully, 3rd degree burns burn the nerved endings as well, so it didn't hurt that bad.

The two cut off valves we installed above the newly re plumbed hot water heater (with bendable/movable parts, should the moving need ever arise again). This way, when we re plumb the bathrooms upstairs, the water can stay on to the rest of the house. Smart, huh?

You can see the copper to my washing machine hookups running at the top. This way, hubby can still get in and fiddle with the pipes without bumping his head, or them getting the way. You can also see the pipes going through the wall to the new master bath (someday). And lastly, you can see the discharge line for the washing machine that is also smartly detachable for easy access to our 2 pumps.

The back of the washing machine box with the discharge. Eventually (once the basement has passed my "making sure everything works and will not flood again" time period), we will put drywall on that wall. But for now, it would just be an liability. Also, note the small burn marks on the back of the studs. At this point, it was, I think 3 in the blessed am, and I began to think of camping, and camp fires. I get like that when I am tired. Nostalgic.

The pump and back up sump pump discharge lines (on the left). The washing machine line in the middle. The sewer pump discharge line going up the back wall (right beside the dryer vent line). It looks fairly complicated. Actually, it is fairly complicated.

And all of those things will be behind that currently bare stud wall with drywall and a door. You will never know how cramped that space is, because it will be hidden. But, hubby has done such a good job thinking it out, it is well organized and easily reachable.

Pay no attention to all the tools on top of the washing machine. Apparently, I need to spring for a work table down in the basement :/

The Price we Pay

So, here is a thoughtful post for you today.

How much is convenience and price worth? You may remember me blogging about my experiences with a certain picture studio. I am not saying all studios of this franchise are like this, but dang if it wasn't completely frustrating!

The first time I went in, they were experiencing technical difficulties. Not their fault. I understand. We took some pictures. They got lost in the fix, and had to reschedule a re-shoot, because by the time we waited to try to fix it, then take the pictures anyway before fixing it, then fix it and discover the loss the kids were waaaaay past picture taking time.

Fast forward to a week later, where they are super busy, I wait for almost an hour an a half before I can actually get the pictures taken. By then, the kids are pretty much past the point of taking pictures, but we still get some decent ones. They comp me a few for the past technical difficulties, and send me on my way with a promise to call into the plant with a special request on one of the pictures to try to edit out a shadow in one of the poses.

Fast forward 2 weeks later to my pick up date. I take my children out of their car seats, haul them all inside to ask for my pictures, only to find they aren't there. When the lady at the studio calls headquarters to find out where they are, they were pulled to do the editing, and for some reason put on hold and never finished. They are at a complete stand still, not edited, not printed, and certainly not ready to pick up. It takes an hour to find all this out, on the phone with different people. They comp me some more picture, and tell me that they put a rush on it, and hopefully they will be back in a week. The studio lady says she will call me when they come in.

Fast forward to last week (which was 2.5 weeks later). Lady from the studio calls me and says the pictures are finally in. Apparently, they have been back for a few days, but no one bothered to call me.

So, my dilemma is this. They are cheaper than my previous picture taking franchise. They are closer than my previous picture taking franchise. And, the pictures are decent quality. But, how much frustration is it worth to save a few bucks and not have to drive the extra 10 minutes? Nothing in my experience with these people suggest anything will change.

Playing together

Kaitlyn and Dylan have been forced to play together. And, after about 2 weeks, they have finally realized that there might be other playmates in the house now that Kari is no longer the glue to entertain them, I mean, hold them together.

The unfortunate thing about them playing together is that they are my loudest children... And when they get together, they are loud together. Its not a pretty picture....

Although, it is pretty cute.... :)

Who lives in a Pineapple under the Sea?

My creative, craft loving, oldest child has decided that this week is a week of birthdays for her cuddle toys. Each day belongs to a different toy. During that day, she plays with them the most, tells them stories, gives them a gift made by her very own hands, then allows them the honor of sleeping with her at night (while the rest of the toys just sleep in the bed beside her). King Spongebob acquired his crown eons ago, in a previous round of gift giving. But, every King needs a throne! And, that is what King Spongebob got. In truth, I don't think she was planning on giving anyone else anything at first. King Spongebob was her "Not so imaginary" "Imaginary friend." Which was fine with me. They played together. Cleaned up together. Brushed their teeth together. I was even ok when King Spongebob started speaking for Kari, saying things such as "King Spongebob says Kari is Hungry" and "King Spongebob says Kari wants a treat." Ok, but not thrilled. However, King Spongebob (and his maker) almost got put in time out when the King started saying things like "King Spongebob says Kari doesn't have to clean up." Mommy does not do well when stuffed toys try to overrule her...

Gary got a "shell cap." That way, when it starts raining (indoors?), he can pull himself into his shell, under his new shell cap, and not get wet!

See? Look how thrilled he is!!!

Patrick got a brand spanking new pair of pants.

And poor ol' twisted Squidward got a new bracelet.

The place of honor on the dresser.

For those of you interested, I am not really all that fond of Spongebob. I think they are gross, and weird. Kinda the Ren and Stimpy for this generation, if you will. But, not quite as gross.... (Sorry for the blasphemy Piko....)

Bathroom Stories

As per request, I have a bathroom funny to tell.

I always tell the girls to go potty before we leave, or go to bed, or take a nap, or go downstairs, or go to the kitchen, or get in the car, or read a story, or brush our teeth, or eat dinner, or, well, you get the idea. You would think I would learn that no matter how many time I make them go before we leave, one will always have to go in the store, on the car, or on the road somewhere. I persist, nonetheless, in my requests, assuming that one day my persistence will pay off, and we will make it through a shopping trip without a trip to the restrooms. I will let you know when that happens, but don't hold your breath. So, they race to the bathroom, and whomever gets there first gets to potty first. Even though neither of them had the need, felt the desire, or even knew the bathroom existed 2 seconds ago, I say the magic word, and suddenly, their bladders are to the point of bursting, and if they hold it one more second they will explode. The slow poke will try to convince the winner that his need is far greater by saying, and I quote, "But, the pee pee is coming out!"

The End.

And Pouring

Is that man a glutton for punishment or what? Pop actually volunteered to come back and help with the pouring. Volunteered! Is that man crazy, or what? You would have thought he learned his lesson the first time. But Pop doesn't shy away from any opportunity to hang out with his son, be loved by his grandchildren, or to play with tools.... Put them all together, and we have a magnetic force greater than any man can resist. Its like he is made of metal shavings or something :) Its true, with all this work we have forced him to do, we may have taken 10 years off his life, but, I don't think he minds. He doesn't want to get much older than 80 anyway.... :)

The walls have been prepped. The floor has been dug and refilled. All thirty 80 lb bags of concrete have been loaded into the truck, unloaded from the truck into the house, and then (4 at a time) loaded into the cement mixer.... I'm telling you, no one needed a workout after that. And here they are, pouring the first load.

Sorry for the grainy-ness of the shot. Too much concrete in the air.

Hubby supervising as Pop is down behind the mixer spreading.
It's not all supervisory work... He had to get under the stairs to help spread. Yeah. Laundry that week wasn't pretty either. My poor washing machine.

Kari wanted to help. Kaitlyn just wanted to get in the way. So, Kaitlyn came upstairs with Dylan and I, and Kari stayed downstairs to help. She had the opportunity to trowel the concrete, and she was the official "water adder" to the mixer.

She loved that cool hose attachment.

Spread and smooth. Spread and smooth. That black stuff is a special layer over the pipe and gravel to help with mold/mildew issues.

Kari's after picture. Her hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and shirt were a dirty shade of grey. Very similar to, um, well, concrete....

And, I know this has nothing to do with anything, but I have to feel bad for the poor stereo... Its been through quite a bit.

Yeah. That's who I feel the worst for in this whole scenario. The stereo. Definitely the stereo.

Recess Dilemma

Kari's story:

Kari: My 2 best friends were fighting over me at recess today. They both wanted me to play with them, but they didn't want to play together.

Me: So what did you do?

Kari: I went and made a new friend. His name is Christopher. And we became boyfriend and girl friend.

Me: ..... (pause) Um..... Ok. What do boyfriends and girlfriends do together?

Kari: They are nice to each other. They pick up stuff if the other drops it.

Me: Ok....

The end.

Martha Speaks

Have you ever seen that show on PBS? That's what this makes me think of. Sorta....

Actually, Dylan Speaks! :)

I am trying to translate in the back ground for posterity's sake....