Sunday, August 02, 2015
Puzzles
I did a lot of puzzles growing up but my kids haven't done many since they outgrew the little kid ones. They were getting a bored this summer so we picked up a couple of puzzles and we all got hooked! It took us a few days to do the first one. It was fun to work on it a little here and there. They got so excited at the end and argued over who would put the last piece in.
Here's the finished puzzle that some neighborhood friends helped with. I kid you not the puzzle was only together for about a minute before they crumbled it apart. This was definitely an example of joy in the journey, not the destination. :)
This round Disney one went together a lot quicker and they've each taken a turn putting it together on their own.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Family Bike Ride
We went for a beautiful ride along the Mississippi this morning. I didn't carry my phone so I don't have any pics of the view but Ben managed this group selfie. We should go more often....my legs were sorta feeling like jell-o after.
Friday, July 17, 2015
Sunday, July 12, 2015
The rains came down and the floods came up.....literally.
So, we had a lot of rain on Monday. Like 4-6 inches in just a few hours. Ben and I were sitting on the screened in porch before dinner enjoying the rain. Natalie was playing super hero and wanted me to send her on missions. So I told her to go check the basement for water. She came back and told us all was clear. I sent her to do a few other little tasks. Then she comes out and says, "Mom, there's water in the living room from the rain." I was thinking, "Yeah, right." but she insisted that I come and look. She pointed to a puddle on the carpet and I thought someone must have spilled some water but then we looked up and saw water dripping from the ceiling. YOWZERS!!!!
It was only drip drip dripping and not gush gush gushing. It slowed down and stopped when the rain slowed down and stopped. We put a bucket under the drip and probably collected about 2 cups or so overnight so it really wasn't bad. We had someone come the next day and fix a crack in the roof around one of the pipes.
Ben poked around in the attic while we girls ran around in a panic. Little did we know it was the least of our concerns with water that night.
Later that night around 10:00 Katie went downstairs to go to bed. She got to the bottom of the stairs and I heard, "Moooooooooooom!!!!!!" There was standing water at the bottom of the stairs and in the bathroom. Pictures don't really show it well but basically the entire basement was flooded. All the carpet in all the rooms was sopping wet and the cement floor in the storage room was covered in water. Our sump pump drain pipe had gotten clogged with mud and our back up sump pump had not kicked in. Normally, it would sound an alarm so we would know something was up. Ben quickly ran a hose into the bathtub from the sump pump well to keep anymore water from coming in. The bathtub quickly filled but did not overflow. There was sooooo much water! Katie and I looked around helplessly not sure where to start. We got some garbage bags and started bagging up wet books and papers etc.
We took some of the smaller furniture upstairs to get it off the wet carpet. The rest of the heavy stuff we set on blocks of wood until we could move it the next day.
We stacked up what we could to get things off the wet carpet.
The cleaners came the next day and sucked up 400 gallons of water and the carpet was still wet. They've had fans blowing on it for almost a week and it's pretty much dried out. I did not think they would be able to salvage the carpet but they did. We got the storage room floor dried off and moved all the furniture in there. In a way, it will be nice to have a fresh start and put things back in and orderly fashion. The toy room has a way of getting out of control. We went 10 years in this house without a drop in the basement. Guess it was our turn....now we can feel like true Iowans!
It was only drip drip dripping and not gush gush gushing. It slowed down and stopped when the rain slowed down and stopped. We put a bucket under the drip and probably collected about 2 cups or so overnight so it really wasn't bad. We had someone come the next day and fix a crack in the roof around one of the pipes.
Ben poked around in the attic while we girls ran around in a panic. Little did we know it was the least of our concerns with water that night.
Later that night around 10:00 Katie went downstairs to go to bed. She got to the bottom of the stairs and I heard, "Moooooooooooom!!!!!!" There was standing water at the bottom of the stairs and in the bathroom. Pictures don't really show it well but basically the entire basement was flooded. All the carpet in all the rooms was sopping wet and the cement floor in the storage room was covered in water. Our sump pump drain pipe had gotten clogged with mud and our back up sump pump had not kicked in. Normally, it would sound an alarm so we would know something was up. Ben quickly ran a hose into the bathtub from the sump pump well to keep anymore water from coming in. The bathtub quickly filled but did not overflow. There was sooooo much water! Katie and I looked around helplessly not sure where to start. We got some garbage bags and started bagging up wet books and papers etc.
We took some of the smaller furniture upstairs to get it off the wet carpet. The rest of the heavy stuff we set on blocks of wood until we could move it the next day.
We stacked up what we could to get things off the wet carpet.
The cleaners came the next day and sucked up 400 gallons of water and the carpet was still wet. They've had fans blowing on it for almost a week and it's pretty much dried out. I did not think they would be able to salvage the carpet but they did. We got the storage room floor dried off and moved all the furniture in there. In a way, it will be nice to have a fresh start and put things back in and orderly fashion. The toy room has a way of getting out of control. We went 10 years in this house without a drop in the basement. Guess it was our turn....now we can feel like true Iowans!
Natalie in the Hospital
So, the flooding happened Monday night.
Tuesday was busy with roofers and cleaners and plumbers etc.
Wednesday morning Natalie woke up not feeling very well. Because of her bladder exstrophy Natalie has had a lot of UTI's and I thought this might be another one. Fortunately, she hasn't had very many in the past couple of years and usually we can treat them at home. She has been hospitalized a few times in the past although it's been a long time. By the evening, her temperature had spiked to almost 106. We ended up taking her to the ER here in town and she was admitted that night. We've come to this smaller local hospital before and it works out great because they can coordinate her care with the doctors at the bigger hospital but we don't have to travel as far and it is much more convenient for trading off parents and having the girls visit.
Annabelle loves visiting Natalie in the hospital. They get to hang out and watch TV and the nurses brought them ice cream. It was great for Natalie to have some sister time. I loved hearing them laugh together especially since she had been feeling so crummy for a couple of days.
All the pokes and prods in the hospital are no fun at all. The nurses were great and hooked her up with some stuffed animals to help her feel better. She was in for 48 hours and we came home Friday evening. We were both very tired from the no-sleep sleep of two nights in the hospital. So glad to be home in our own beds. Natalie is doing great. She's on some oral antibiotics here at home but she is feeling back to normal. So that has been our adventures this week. We're hoping next week is very very boring.
Tuesday was busy with roofers and cleaners and plumbers etc.
Wednesday morning Natalie woke up not feeling very well. Because of her bladder exstrophy Natalie has had a lot of UTI's and I thought this might be another one. Fortunately, she hasn't had very many in the past couple of years and usually we can treat them at home. She has been hospitalized a few times in the past although it's been a long time. By the evening, her temperature had spiked to almost 106. We ended up taking her to the ER here in town and she was admitted that night. We've come to this smaller local hospital before and it works out great because they can coordinate her care with the doctors at the bigger hospital but we don't have to travel as far and it is much more convenient for trading off parents and having the girls visit.
Annabelle loves visiting Natalie in the hospital. They get to hang out and watch TV and the nurses brought them ice cream. It was great for Natalie to have some sister time. I loved hearing them laugh together especially since she had been feeling so crummy for a couple of days.
All the pokes and prods in the hospital are no fun at all. The nurses were great and hooked her up with some stuffed animals to help her feel better. She was in for 48 hours and we came home Friday evening. We were both very tired from the no-sleep sleep of two nights in the hospital. So glad to be home in our own beds. Natalie is doing great. She's on some oral antibiotics here at home but she is feeling back to normal. So that has been our adventures this week. We're hoping next week is very very boring.
Fun with Family!
We had a family reunion here in Iowa the first couple of weeks of June. Various family came and went but since we are local we got to be around for it all. After the fact I always wish I would have taken more pictures but I really enjoyed myself in the moment and that's what counts.
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| Annabelle and cousin Ammon |
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| Natalie and Aunt Emily |
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| Natalie and Annabelle pulling at handcart at Grandma D's with cousin Spencer pushing. |
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Eye of the storm.
It was really stormy across the state tonight. But check out Muscatine in this radar picture:
The Big Pink Barn
As I was driving Katie to Ames for her Future Problem Solvers event I suddenly yelled, "Hey! I know that barn!" She thought I was crazy at first. I haven't driven past this place in 14 years. I had forgotten where it was. Which is in the middle on nowhere. I found my wedding dress here all those years ago. I had fun stopping with Katie and taking a few pictures and remembering that busy summer of wedding prep.
Friday, June 19, 2015
Six Sisters!
We had so much fun hanging out in early June during our family reunion. Wish we could all get together more often!
Piano
This summer Natalie started piano so now all three are taking lessons. Our teacher is graduating next year so we'll have to find someone new. The girls love it because they get to play with the other kids in their teacher's family when it's not their lesson.
Last field trip with Katie
I went with Katie on her last elementary school field trip. We went to a couple of museums in Iowa City. I'm guessing they don't really need parent chaperones for middle school and high school outings.
Farm Life
Some friends of ours have lots of animals including these alpacas. They kind of remind me of My Little Ponies. In a rugged sort of way.
Goodbye Mrs. Garvin
Both Annabelle and Natalie had this wonderful teacher for Kindergarten. She retired at the end of this school year. She did an amazing job and I'm so glad we could have her. Both the girls absolutely loved her!
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| Her last class on the last day of school. |
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