So. . .funny story. . .It begins with water?

I have come to believe there is something about my house and water and the month of October.

APPARENTLY, the roof over our garage and laundry room has had a more than small leak in it for maybe an extended period of time.

It may have been long enough to rot out my laundry room floor and create a sizable amount of mold covering the entire sub-floor and parts of the wall.

And maybe it required some construction work

which was possibly not covered by our insurance

Because according to said company the problem has been going on for an extended period of time and we should have caught it sooner

Yes, Mr. Insurance company you are right, I enjoy living with mold. . .

Oh wait no.

But the good news, I still like our insurance company. We have always had great and prompt customer service and I understand our policy is in agreement with what they have informed us.

And I got a new laundry room!

and a new roof!

For the record, I don't need anything else new in this house. . .we have re-done almost the entire house at this point.

A Square is a Rectangle

I got into a very heated debate the other day on a very important subject: A Square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square.

The other person did not agree with the above statement.

I was obviously on the side which was right.

See every square can be a rectangle, but every rectangle can not be a square.

Every puppy is a dog, but not every dog is a puppy.

Every blow pop is a sucker but not every sucker is a blow pop.

Every Girl Scout Thin Mint is a cookie but not every cookie is a thin mint. This is sad.

These are your words of wisdom for the day.

This is my contribution to society.

Singing and Dancing

So, I was looking through pictures and it came to my attention that I sing and dance. . .a lot. Then I began to think about it. . .and, yes, I do sing and dance. . .A LOT. . .Everyday. . .all day.

Why wouldn't you?

So here are a few of my favorite pictures I found exhibiting several of my favorite dance moves and a little dancing from the wedding I was in earlier this year:

Dancing with Brooks. . .

Singing. . .

The pencil sharpener. . I made up this dance. . you are welcome world. 

Sprinkler. . .Classic.

The Duggie. . 

Slow dancing. . .

Lawn mower. . .Another classic.

This is me trying to convince Brooks to let me jump and he lift me up like Dirty Dancing. I jumped. He didn't catch. 

Line dancing. . .

Here's another random line dancing picture from a few years back. . .

And one where I felt like dancing in the middle of a field next to a bon fire, because everyone else was also dancing. . .no. . .no. . .I was the only one. 

I love to dance, so please accept this as an advance apology for anyone I may begin dancing next too. . .no worries. . .you probably can't hear the music. . .the voices in my head are singing the song. 

1st Graders and Animals

1st Graders and Animals or 1st Graders are WILD animals

I got to go to the zoo with Addyson's class this week. Our zoo decorates for Halloween every year and this year they already had their decorations set-up. It made it just a little bit more exciting for the kidos. . .and me.

I got to spend half the day herding a group of monkey/kidos around to see the flamingos and baby giraffe and elephants.

One kid in my group kept pointing out that you could see the animals "private parts".

Yes, you can.

You can see them go to the bathroom.

Yes, yes you can.

We would move on to the next group and guess what?

Repeat above conversation.

At. Every. New. Exhibit.

Same conversation.

Who doesn't love 1st graders and their conversations?

One of the best things about going on the field trips is getting to meet the faces of the kidos you hear about every day. Getting to see your child interact with their friends is one of the most rewarding feelings as a parent.

To see my child happy. . .

fills my heart. 

Aunt Erin: 11 Times Over

I'm an aunt for the 11th time!

My nephew was born to my brother and his wife and I couldn't be happier! 

Yeah, they're pretty happy too.

I love babies!

Especially babies who I can give back when they cry or spit up or poop or my arm gets tired. I love babies!

When you look at a baby people will often ask you who you think the baby looks like, the mother or father. I don't mean to be rude when asked this question, but I think most of the time a baby looks like. . .well, a baby.

Did I mention I love babies!

For the record I have the best name as an aunt. . .Aunt Erin. . .say that five times once fast. I like to make my nieces and nephews say it. It makes me laugh. I may or may not have a weird sense of humor.

What's in a name?

Well, for my side of the family, this birth was the guarantee of the last name being passed down.

My Grandparents had THREE boys to carry on the family name. Of those THREE boys, there is only ONE boy grandson to carry the name. Now that ONE boy has a boy.

The name lives on!

NO sympathies!

I would like to state for the record, I hold no bitterness towards my sister-in-law who brought this amazing child into our lives, but rumor has it she did not feel ONE REAL contraction. Again, I love her, but her water broke and she had some back labor pains and then got an epidural. . .No want-to-punch-someone-in-the-face, why-did-you-do-this-to-me, I-can't-stand-up contractions.

No really, bless her, I would have wanted to do it the exact same way if I could!!

I love babies!

Especially this one, Mr. #11!

Oh and I love my nieces and nephews #1 through 10 too! They just aren't babies any more.

The Brick Room: Rainbow #2 and #3 and #4

So as mentioned before there were a few things I hated about our house, but they were functional so we weren't in a hurry to change.

1. Brick floor.

I had a brick floor in my house. We call it the brick room. I know we are so creative! You didn't see that one coming.

Well, brick is not practical INSIDE your home.

Spill milk into grout. . .go ahead.  . .let me know how that smells.

Stump your toe on the brick. . .but don't bleed on it! You can't pressure wash inside your house. People apparently look at you funny when you ask for them to install a drain in your floor so you can pressure wash in your house. Stained forever.

I couldn't have been more excited until we realized what an undertaking it would be to remove the brick. . .not easy. . .not for the weary. . .very heavy. You can only haul out small loads at a time because of the weight of the bricks.

Who built this house? Brick inside? Carpet in Bathrooms? REALLLLLYYYY???? You do NOT have children.

2. Parquet?

So the engineered hardwood was neat. . I guess.

But it got wet. No big deal, we'll remove it!

Chief, one board at a time.

It can't be as hard as the brick.

My heroes: Brooks and my Dad

Oh wait, someone glued each piece down individually.

Thank you floor guy. Now we have to dig it up and sand the floors.

3. Vinyl- ahhhh

Look at all the shinny vinyl. . .aka water.

Who likes vinyl 1980's style? Not this guy. Bye. Bye.

That one was easy.

Let there be light! and popcorn.

My final rainbows really were the light at the end of the tunnel.

Smile Brooks! I love you!!!!!!

Well, as you can image the BEAUTIFUL florescent 1980's lighting in my kitchen didn't survive the flood.

I'll give you a moment to process your feelings. Okay, moment over.

Since we had to replace the ceiling and lighting. . .guess who got recessed lighting.



I'm waiting.



Guess.



Do Re Mi! (name that song) ME! ME! ME!

Oh and hang-y light thingies.

In with new light, out with popcorn . . .

Do not try at home.

Worst decision of my life.

And unfortunately my Uncle's as well.

Happy Thanksgiving, Uncle Tim!

My dad, uncle and husband were so gracious to spend their Thanksgiving destroying my house. . .I mean helping remove the old to put in the new.

And look! Pretty new floors!!!!!

I promise they are pretty. . .inside those boxes.

While looking at this picture, I should take this time to remind you that I lived here in this while all the construction was going on with my small children during the holidays. . .I would like a medal for this. . .okay I'll take a cookie.

But not as big of a medal or cookie as Brooks who not only lived here while all the construction was going on with my small children during the holidays but also lived with me and still loved me in the end, oh yeah and he did all the work. . .That too. Bless him. He is a saint.

With every Flood comes a Rainbow

When we bought our 30 year old house, we knew there were somethings which needed updating. . .we would never have dreamed that our insurance would have to pay for it and do ALL of it during the holidays. . .with three small children.

So, not great timing, but great results!

One of the things I love most about my husband is his good looks. Another thing I love is his ability to make and build anything he wants with his hands.

You would think he would want to high five with those awesome hands more often, but I'm here to tell you, he doesn't. But don't worry I have a master plan. By the time he's 86, he's going to be high five-n like it's going out of style. He just doesn't know it yet.

So back to my rainbow.

After over two weeks of drying out the house. We were ready for construction.

The wind tunnel. 

If you stood outside our house, it sounded like jets taking off inside.

So there once was this wall . . .

which I for some moment of craziness painted orange. . .

that I wanted removed.

and not just because it was an ugly orange. . .

It became rainbow #1!

This is apparently a load bearing wall.

No problem.

PS. The kids slept upstairs directly above this wall during the entire construction/demolition.

See, I don't need that wall!

Rainbow.

And yes, we lived here during the weeks of construction in the plastic.

Bad Luck equals No Luck: The Great Flood

I don't know about you, but on more than one occasion (and when I say more than one I mean a lot) I have had the moment when someone not only thought, but said to me, "If you didn't have bad luck, you would have no luck!" Well, this was said again to me today, but I like to think it just keeps life entertaining.

I would like to enter exhibit one into evidence: The Great Flood.

Halloween 2010

We are quickly approaching our 2 year anniversary of what I like to refer to as The Great Flood.

You know there was the real great flood with Noah and God being angry and saving a pair of every animal, but this was our Great Flood.

Our Halloween began like any other, we got up. . .I put on a costume because I have an amazing job where we are very serious about our costumes, took Brody to school and the girls and I headed off to the club.

I'm not in this picture in case you were wondering.

Fun was everywhere! Candy too!

Each day we had to leave to meet Mrs. Gordon (there is a post about her) around lunch time. Little did we know this was the beginning of our year long journey to come.

I entered the house first and made a quick turn into our kitchen. . .and then stopped. . .stopped breathing. . .began breathing. . .then thought. . .

I'm standing in water.

There is water on my head.

There is water over ther. . .ahhh. . .wa. . .GORDAN! Don't come in the house.

In fact there was water everywhere. I realized water was coming from upstairs so I quickly rushed up stairs to find the water source.

TA-DA!

Apparently, we taking brushing our teeth very seriously but I take being on time EXTREMELY seriously. I really can't stand to be late.

Side note. One of my favorite sayings: Early is on time. On time is late. Late you might as well not show up.

So what had happened was (please read with attitude), my wonderful middle child was brushing her teeth when she felt she needed to quickly come to the car as it was time to leave. This time though, she didn't turn the water off. . .and it ran for around 5 to 5 1/2 hours. . .non-stop. . .full force.

I called Brooks and told him to sit down. . .I had something to tell him.

Thankfully we have an incredible insurance company and they helped with all the repairs.

Two hours later. . .water still dripping to downstairs.

Who puts carpet in a kids bathroom?????

And as for the toilet paper. . .all I have to say is I have three kids. . .no more questions please.

If you look past all the crap on my counter you can see the water. . .it's the shinny part.

Back counter. . .water came out of the sockets. . .not the water bottle on the counter. See the streak in the upper right corner?

Good news! I got a new kitchen and Brooks got to wear his overalls. Stay tuned for more!