Everyday Laughs

When we're not dealing with new terrible-two-tantrums, we generally share a lot of laughs over everyday nonsense.  It's the little things that make our days so special.

This girl loves her cheerios.

Beep, beep.  Let's go!

More bows please!

The girl who NEVER before had an interest in TV, wanted a front row seat over breakfast this morning.

 Fletcher, as always, demonstrating how to be the good kid.

Sock gifts

Sydney's little socks.

These little treasures seem to pop up all over the house. You never know where you'll find one next. And for once it's not because of her own mischievousness (well, maybe a little). Somehow Sydney's socks manage to get into almost every load of laundry done in this house. Then they hide, cling to various vessels in the dryer and reveal themselves over time in the least likely places. I find them between folds of a towel, on a mattress when I'm stripping the sheets, inside her brother's clothes or just randomly dropped on the floor like this one.

Sometimes, the corralling of her socks can be a little aggravating. But most times I feel as if she left us a little gift. Her little footprints throughout the house. And I smile.

More from the beach...

Sydney's favorite new activity at the pool - jumping in.  And, as discovered this past weekend, she really doesn't care if you're there to catch her or not.  Oh my!

The Beach

Despite being cut short, we had a wonderful trip to the beach.

I love the sounds and smells of the ocean, feel of sand between my toes and saltwater film left on my skin after a dip. And I love sharing these experiences with the kids. Instead of boring you with a lot of wordy thoughts about our time there, I will share a zillion pictures which tell the story best...

Hello Beach!

Bye Bye Beach! Until next time...

Leak of 2011

Because things were starting to get a little boring around here...

Five days into our splendid beach vacation we got the call that all vacationers dread. The neighbors, looking in on our cat, had discovered a leak in the house. Source unknown. Water dripping from chandelier in dining room - onto the brand new dining room table - and in the office - where oh, only a dozen or so paper/photo projects are scattered about. All on the floor!

We scrambled to pack, threw the kids in the car first thing the next morning and drove home into the night, all the while coordinating initial clean-up from our cell phones. Our amazing insurance agent's office is less than a mile away and they came to the house to let contractors in and out all day. Turns out the leak was caused by a clogged line in our upstairs air conditioner. Who knew A/C units would put out that much water over just a few days time.

I must pause for a moment here and add one note of advice. Mothers always say to wear clean underwear because you never know when you'll be in an accident. Well, let me tell you, same goes for your house. Leave a clean house when you go on vacation because you never know when there will be some emergency. I'll admit there was a huge sigh of relief on my end knowing there wasn't a stack of dirty dishes by the sink or laundry piled up in the living room or other nasty housekeeping horror to be found while all sorts of friends and strangers traipsed through.

Imagining the worst, we arrived home in the wee hours of the morning Friday. Good news, the damage wasn't nearly as bad as we had envisioned. Bad news, it was in Sydney's room as well. Nothing like transitioning a sleeping toddler from a car to her bed in the middle of the night only to discover her bedroom has been overtaken by a massive dehumidifier.

So... We get daily visits by the moisture specialists (fan police) checking the walls and floor and spraying for mold. Sydney has been sleeping in our bedroom. It sounds like we're living on an airport runway here with all the fans and dehumidifiers blowing 24/7. The sound is deafening. I can barely hear the doorbell, much less a phone ringing. And don't even talk to me about the TV volume. We turned a few fans off the other night so we could actually hear some movie dialogue for a few hours, fearful the entire time that the fan police would catch us. And poor Fletcher's room is a good 10 degrees above normal due to the massive heat those same machines put out.

Here are a few photos of our current state.

Yes, the office is still a mess. At least now I have a good excuse.



Syd didn't quite understand why we were home but she couldn't sleep in her room. Fortunately (I think) she found our bed quite comfortable for naps.

Despite the shortened vacation and hassle ahead, we are grateful. So very grateful for our neighbors who found the leak and worked quickly to help us address it. Grateful for the amazing personal service of our insurance agent (State Farm/Sean Laughlin for any of you Fall Creek readers). Grateful for the quick work of ServPro (aka - the fan police) and response of our wonderful general contractor (Jorge Huerta also for any Fall Creekers). And grateful because the damage could have been oh so much worse.

Moral of the story...

• Location of your insurance agent matters.
• Have a friend or neighbor check on your house while you're gone even if you don't have pets.
• Hide a key outside in the unlikely event you need someone to have access to your home.
• And always, always, clean your house before you leave!