Thursday, January 31, 2008

Cleanup on Aisle 9

Last night Emily was up a lot. From about midnight I would hear her plaintive cry about every 20 minutes or so. It was not a sustained cry, more of a crying out and then silence, so I thought maybe she lost her paci. After about an hour of this she did start calling out for me, and when I went to get her, she was burning up. Gave her some ibuprofen, rocked for awhile, and she finally slept the rest of the night. Michael, however pulled his "let me wake up at 4:55 and make Mom come down here for 15 minutes to calm me down" trick that he is so fond of. Then Sophie came in to wake me up at 6:15, after I had hit my snooze button at least twice.

Emily did not go to school today, but after dropping Michael off, she and I ran into Wal-Mart for diapers. She was doing ok, hadn't eaten anything for breakfast, just wanted her juice. We had been in the store about 15 minutes because, let's face it: Who can go into Wal-Mart and only get what you came for? Once there I realized we needed bannanas, Danimals, peanut butter and jelly, you get the idea. As I wheeled the cart onto aisle 9, she looked up and me, made a face, and proceeded to throw up. I must have jumped and shouted in surprise, because several employees came running. They were quick to bring us some paper towels (of course I didn't bring the diaper bag in with me) We quickly finished getting what we needed and headed home. She seemed better after that, even asking for raisins in the car. She ate those and a rice cake, and had a nice time playing tea party until it was time to pick up Michael.

She's still running a temp, even got up to 102.3, so now I am dosing her with both Tylenol and Motrin. I will give her the next Motrin dose before I go to bed in just a few minutes. Hoping she's feeling better tomorrow, and this doesn't move on to her brother and sister.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Water, Water, Everywhere....

and not a drop to drink. Or bathe with, or do laundry with, or flush with....because when you have a leak and don't know where it is coming from, you must shut off the water. Oh, the things I am learning that I never thought I would have to know!

Last Friday the kids had early release, and Noah came over to play. Being the ace mother that I am, I told him and Sophie I would give each of them a dollar if they picked up the basement. All toys had to be put away properly, etc. They were thrilled and hopped to it. About 30 minutes later I went down to check on them, and Noah told me his feet were freezing. Ace mother responds: "Put your shoes on honey, and your feet won't be cold." "Well, Miss Darfy, I can't, my feet are really wet." "So are mine, " chimes in Sophie, "I told you last night Mommy, I think Emmy spilled her cup down here." This rang a bell, I do remember Sophie telling me her feet were wet, but I was more interested in herding them all upstairs for bed, so didn't pay much attention.

Now I was paying attention and felt the carpet; it was soaked. I quickly opened the door to the furnace and water heater room, and the floor had about 1/2 inch of standing water on it, this was leaking out onto the carpet and had soaked it almost all the way over to the pool table, about a 6 foot span. So I did what any grown woman would do when her husband is unavailable: I called my father. He arrived about 40 minutes later. Upon his inspection he realized it was not the water heater leaking as I had told him, but a leak coming from above, dripping down from the floor joists. We quickly checked every toilet, sink, washer and dryer and tub in the house. Nothing amiss. By now Kathleen had arrived with Samuel to pick up Noah, Michael and Emily were up from nap, and chaos was ensuing. Dad filled some pitchers, told me not to flush unless we had to, and said he would be back in the morning to take out the bottom of the cabinet that was directly above the leak. Then he turned off the water. I made pizza, Kathleen and I fed the kids, and then she left, taking Sophie with her to spend the night.

The next morning Dad removed the cabinet bottom, and found...nothing, it was completely dry. Wow, that really stunk. So now we had a leak somewhere, but could not find it. By this time he had cut out a section of the drywall in the basement to get at the pipes. Still nothing. We had coffee time, he thought some more, and gave it one more look. Then I got the call to come down and see. Here's what he had found, and only because he felt the spray.

That gray pipe on the left has a tiny pinhole in it, and you can barely see the spray of water it is sending up onto the joist on the far right. The vertical wire in the middle of the picture is the hanger that Dad threaded down from the hole in the cabinet above, to make sure he was in the right area. It was hard to see the leak, it was so fine, and was spraying up and across. The water then leaked down and pooled behind and under the water heater.

One the leak had been found, we were quite pleased with ourselves. That was huge, not having to start making holes in the wall to find the offending pipe. Dad again showed me how to turn the water on and off, since I hadn't been able to do it the previous night. He would come back the next (Sunday) afternoon to make a temporary fix. All was well, except I could never get the water off all the way, so we did have more leakage that night, but it was mininal, and able to be contained with a couple of towels I left down.

The temporary fix is a clamp over the leak, plus tape. Dad also installed this baffle (material from his boat deck) to catch any water in case the clamp fails. And the bucket for it to drain into. So far the clamp is holding, now we (and by we I mean Dad) will figure out what sort of pipe to use to replace it. But, in the meantime, we have water, which is huge.


A huge thanks to both my parents, Dad for saving me the ton of money that calling a plumber would have been, and Mom for keeping the twinkles busy so Dad could work in peace, and I could be his helper. Also to Kathleen, for loaning me her box fan and for taking Sophie to spend the night and next day. Sophie wanted to know how Grandpa found the leak, and I told her he found it because he didn't give up. It took some thought, and some time, but in the end it all turned out well. A good lesson for this grown up as well.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Snow Revisited

Just three days after our first snow event, we had another, more successful snowfall. It started Saturday morning about 10, and by noon, it was really coming down. We probably got a full inch on the ground. Yes, I hear the laughter coming from all my family who live in the NE, but remember, any snow is news for us! There were snowmen galore (mixed with dirt and leaves) throughout the neighborhood by the end of the afternoon. The next morning it was almost all gone, although it stayed on our deck until today's rain washed it away. Michael and Emily were much more at ease in it this time, and when they got too cold, Sophie found a neighbor friend to play with, and was able to stay outside at her house almost all afternoon. Very fun and so pretty.





In other news, Emily had an appt with a pediatric orthopaedist this morning. I have been suspicious of her gait for awhile now, and finally paid attention to my mother's intuition. The doctor was very thorough in examining her, and had an x-ray taken of her pelvic area. Her hips are fine, and in perfect alignment. He told me that a child's gait isn't fully developed until age 3, and most children that crouch like she does usually have a balance or weakness issue. He doesn't think she has either, as she is a great climber. He feels she will grow out of it, and as it isn't impeding her in any way, we can wait until closer to her 3rd birthday and have her rechecked if necessary. I was satisfied with that, and certainly felt much better after her x-ray showed nothing amiss.

Perspective

The other night while I was getting Michael and Emily into the tub, Sophie found my camera and asked if she could take some pictures. It wasn't until today that I looked at them, and thought it was interesting what she decided to photograph. Think she has a future?


Our newest favorite book, all three of them love it, and I remember it fondly from my own childhood, so it's a hit with me as well.

Emily on the big "toy-wet" before getting in the tub


Shampoo bottle

Bedroom door


Another bedroom door


Shelf in M and Em's room

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Best Day of My Life

That's what Sophie said to me when we were out playing in the snow tonight, that this was the best day of her life. Don't you wish that all it took was a little frozen H2O to make you that happy? I sure do. And in reality, the snow made me just as happy and giddy as the kids; I think mainly because it brings back so many memories of my own childhood and teenage years in NJ. Nothing like hearing the snowplow coming down our street, and knowing the big hill would be right in front of 6 Arnold Court. Good times.

However, just dressing and undressing the little ones twice in a 2 hour period this afternoon and tonight was enough. (Mom, I remember the dishpan for our wet hats/gloves/mittens/socks, etc, and getting undressed in the garage; makes perfect sense to me now.) Poor Michael, he doesn't even have mittens, and had to wear a girly pair. Sophie was having so much fun that I let her stay up late; I put M and Em down at 7:15, then she and I went back outside till about 8pm. I doubt they will have school tomorrow, right now it is sleeting. We really did enjoy it tonight, maybe some will stick around for the morning at least.





Monday, January 14, 2008

PSA

Tired of getting catalogs you don't want? I know I am; they don't even make it inside, just go right into the recycling bin. A friend told me about a way to stop them, it's called Catalog Choice. You spend a few minutes registering, then as you receive catalogs you don't want, you can go to their website and delete your name from their list. So far, I have cancelled 4. Wish I had known about this site before Christmas, when we received multiple catalogs per day.

If you don't want to update your list everyday, just collect the catalogs, then when you have a minute, log on and complete the necessary screens. The website is very easy to use.

You're welcome!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

What happens at Grandma's

stays at Grandma's. Except for these pictures, because they were too funny not to share. The kids were down in Peachtree City this weekend visiting their grandparents. They have a dog, Dave, who has to spend time in his cage when our two toddlers are around. GG Yoko has shown Michael and Emily how to give him treats while he is in the cage, and I guess they wanted to try it out for themselves. Here's Emily in the cage, being fed by her brother.



The kids love that Grandpa has his very own golf cart, and they have the run of the many playgrounds that are just a cart ride away. Luckily the weather was nice, so they were able to go to a different playground each day.


I so enjoyed my weekend as well. My house is the cleanest it has ever been in years...perhaps since before having kids! Over the past 2 weeks Terry has steam cleaned all the carpet in the entire house, and I have been able to get rid of so much stuff. What is left is much better organized. It is so much easier to clean up at night before bedtime now, because everything has it's own home. A huge thanks to Pam, Gerry and Yoko for giving us the precious gift of uninterrupted time to get this accomplished. We also enjoyed our dinner out by ourselves, and our birthday dinner out with Mom and Dad. A lovely way to end Christmas vacation.

(And yes, I know these pictures look crappy; I have been working on them for over an hour, and I can't figure out why they are not transferring correctly. Pam emailed them to me, and when I copied them to my picture program, then post them in Blogger, they come out tiny. This is my attempt to make them normal sized, which totally screwed up the quality. Oh well...you get the idea.)

Thursday, January 03, 2008

A Modern Man

Here's Mike getting in touch with his feminine side. We were in Sophie's room packing, and he asked me to "see pincesses". It's his favorite thing to play with whenever he gets the chance to be in her room. Wish the video was lighter, I did have all the lights on.

Further Proof

I found this article from the NY Times very interesting.

What stuck me first was the statement "Getting organized is unquestionably good for both mind and body — reducing risks for falls, helping eliminate germs and making it easier to find things like medicine and exercise gear."

This is so true, and I am reminded of it every time I spent precious minutes searching...for the Children's Motrin, for that other sneaker, for the coupon I knew I had, that paper that needs to be signed for school....it goes on and on.

It affects the kids as well. Last night I sorted through the books in the family room, got rid of about 10 that were torn, missing pages etc. Then I sorted them back into their baskets by size. Michael and Emily spent about an hour this morning just looking at books. Because the books were organized, they found them more appealing. Another bonus, when they were done, they placed them back into the basket. I think just like adults, a cluttered area makes them less likely to focus.

Resolutions

My friend Paula, started her own blog this past week. You can check it out here.

Her ideas have got me thinking as well. I am all ready set to have a banner weekend of cleaning and purging toys and the like. The kids are going to their grandparents in Peachtree City for the weekend, so it is the perfect opportunity. But here's the thing....why do we end up with so much "stuff" in the first place? How much can 3 children actually play with, or actually need?

Way less than what we currently have, that's for sure.

The more toys, the more clutter, the more arguements about keeping the family room neat. It just snowballs.

So this year I resolve not to give in to the temptation of the cute toy that looks so good on Target's shelf, but once home, is played with for 15 minutes and then sits in the middle of the floor, abandoned. I also resolve to recycle and reuse more. Why buy brand new when I have so many options (twins club, friends, ebay) for used toys that are in great shape? The kids don't know the difference, and even if they did, it's a good lesson to teach them now.

Thanks Paula, for making me think.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Whose toys?

Yesterday was a nice day, and we took the opportunity to be outside for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Sophie got to ride her new plasma car, and I even took a spin on it. It gained some good speed going down the slope into our cul de sac. Terry tried it too, but the camera was in his pocket while he was riding it. Yes, I look like a goof, but it was fun.


Terry has been showing Michael and Emily how to swing on the big swing, and they are both enjoying that. Here's Emily in action:

New Year's Eve was rather tame, Terry is fighting a bad cold, so he was in bed early. I stayed up a bit later, and sorted through a huge bag of hand me downs for Michael. Talk about exciting! Terry had to work today, and Sophie needed a playmate other than me, so we called our best buddy over for the day. Luckily he was available, and they spent the day playing so nicely together. I even got to shower when the little ones were napping. Mom and Dad stopped in for "coffee time", and we had a nice visit. Sophie, Noah and I whipped up some double chocolate muffins (Ghiradelli mix, very good) for the occasion, since today was Dad's birthday. All in all a nice start to 2008!