When you have water coming up from under your foundation…
And then you have 5 different plumbers give you estimates to fix it that range from 5 grand all the way up to 20 grand…
It’s a huge mess.
But it has to be fixed….
Yes, that’s right. The first few pics are from the kitchen and the second huge hole is in our bedroom floor. And just be thankful smell-o-vision isn’t real. Cuz’ it stinks!!!
The pipe that connects the washer dryer/sink/dishwasher to the main sewer line on the other side of the house broke. And I can’t really live without running my washer, dishwasher, or using my sink. So we had no choice but to get it fixed.
This was phase one of fixing the problem. Tomorrow they will attempt to pull a new flexible pipe through the old cast iron one. The hope is that their machine can bust up the old pipe as it goes so we don’t have to have any more holes dug into our foundation. And so they can finish before Christmas. Oh please, let them be done by Christmas.
It stinks. So incredibly bad. And on top of the smell, it just plain stinks. This doesn’t feel like Christmas at all. If you’re the praying type, we could use some prayers. This is a big mess. And it isn’t looking like we will get to hang out at our house much before Christmas.
I apologize for the ugly pics.
When my friend Jill had her first child, I saw something that I fell in love with at one of her baby showers. Her husband’s grandmother had made these busy books for all the grandkids and so she was making them for the great-grandkids as well. I just had to know where to find the pattern and so after many emails back and forth, and scouring the internet- I finally found it. From a 1959 Vogue pattern called “It’s a Zoo Full of Teaching Pets” came this wondrous project.
I have had the pattern for almost 2 years and was honestly a little intimidated by how much time and effort it would require of me. You see, there are these 3 little people that I tend to spend most of my waking time with and until recently I didn’t feel like I had any free time to devote to this project. Boy was I right! This was a labor of love for sure. I enjoyed every bit of it, and I was thrilled to finish it and give it to my little love. She adores it.
There are 9 pages in all (I think. The length of this project has made my mind a little fuzzy.) Each page is an animal that has an activity for little hands to practice- like buttoning, snapping, tying bows, zipping, hooking, etc. It is just the cutest darn thing I’ve ever seen and I’m so thankful that Jill’s grandmother-in-law shared the details of this pattern with me.
It’s funny seeing pictures of my hands- they remind me so much of my mom’s hands. I remember with fondness watching her sew- she taught me a lot just by letting me watch. I got my first sewing machine around the age of 10 I think. It was bright pink and worked so poorly that my mom just went ahead and taught me how to use her machine. It’s the same machine I have now- ancient and full of lovely memories. Though I am sure that a newer machine would blow me away, my old “Elna” is a workhorse and I do believe that my mom had every single attachment, stitch template, and accessory that the company made for it. I love it. And I love to make things for my kids- the grandkids my mom never got to meet- with it. Long live the Elna!
This summer was the best we’ve ever had. It was a mix of things that made it awesome, and some of the reasons it was so good are purely selfish on my part.
For instance: My kids are at such an enjoyable age. Not that any other age has been less enjoyable on their part, but I enjoy the ages they are so much right now. Amai is reading really well and I loved getting to relate to her on that level this summer. She doesn’t love to read as much as I did when I was a kid- but she is getting there. She may never love it like I do, but at least she is old enough to talk about characters and plots and all that good stuff. So far- 7 is my favorite age. Again, purely selfish.
Another thing that made it amazing was being able to go to the public pool 3 and 4 times a week. With all 3 kids! Amai is such a strong swimmer- she had free reign there and could swim to her little heart’s content by herself. Asher started out the summer with a “puddle jumper” floatie and quickly became an independent swimmer. Bella used her puddle jumper and was quite happy to just kick around in it. It was glorious.
And perhaps the best thing was getting to spend so much time playing. With dear friends. It was incredible, and I was so sad to send them back to school when it was time.
Pool pictures will come later. For now- just a few pics of them playing at home on a verrrrry hot Sunday afternoon. (Photographer’s note: my blog seems to be crunching my images. I’m losing a ton of sharpness and clarity when I post. Anyone have any idea on how to fix this?)
I adore this pic. My grandfather made us grandkids a duck just like that one when I was little. When his great grandkids started showing up, he made them one. Bella never got to meet him, but she loves this duck and I love seeing her tenderly pulling it around.
She lost a few more teeth this summer.
And worked hard to perfect her roller skating.
I can’t stand this lens. The bokeh is terrible, the aperture is pathetic and it just all around stinks. But I love this picture of my sweet kids!
Such a sweet big brother.
And she’s off on an adventure with her duck!
Summer is on its way out. And I’m so thankful for the time I had with my kids. I think I learned a lot more about each of them and how they need me to love them. I’m definitely a better mom because of it. Thank you God for such a great summer.
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