The First Day

Once again, it was the first day.... Oh, I remember those times- it was really exciting and it seems to be for my little ones too. And this year was special. Princess started Kindergarten. We agonized over starting her- she is young- just turned 5 in August..... But I can't imagine what else she would be doing this year otherwise. She was certainly ready, but Mom wasn't quite prepared. To have only 1 with me- strange, sad.... It has been 8 years since monkey was born that I remember only having 1..... Even though we got everything ready and went to open house, it didn't quite sink in until that day. She was MOST excited about getting on the bus with her sissies....


There is always time to be silly:)

So can you believe Diva is a 5th grader?? Seriously, time flies! She is so grown up, so responsible, so independent. And she got up Early to DO.HER.HAIR.... what? I can't believe this is happening:)

Princess's official first day of school ever portrait.... This will be remembered Forever!

My pretties together!!!!!!!!

And Monkey is in Third grade this year. She got her hair cut short the week before school started, and she looks so much older.... Of course in this photo you just see her funky personality- she did her hair herself.....

Well another year...... I'm sure this year will fly too- lets remember to enjoy each passing day:)

ut oh, oh no

uhhhh man- that stinks! literally.... We walked in the door after a 5 day vacation to my parents' house in the beginning of August to the most horrible odor. I was thinking, "did I leave wet dirty rags out" but I would've had to leave 100 of those out to get that odor.... Think again.... yep, a toilet on the second floor was clogged and ran the entire 5 days. Y.U.C.K. The water flooded our master bathroom, bedroom and hall on the second floor.... It felt like we were walking through a swamp when we first discovered it...

In fact it went through the house the entire way to the basement. It leaked onto our tv, dvd player and cable box.....

This is the main level ceiling - in the formal living room. It effected 2 walls and the ceiling. The pipe runs across the ceiling. So one of the walls was in the front of the room with our bump out window and the other was the back wall, opposite....

This is another picture of the basement....

So after trying to clean it up ourselves..... I think we were in shock... We finally called the insurance company. They sent in a restoration company. They started ripping out walls and floors and ceilings.... I started crying.... My house was being ripped apart! They set up huge dehumidifiers and fans that were VERY loud- but 2 1/2 days later it was dry! This is what we were left with....

They gutted the master bath- yes, this is my vanity in my bedroom....

Initially only walls and ceiling were removed from the basement. They ripped out most of the padding under the carpet and put dryers under the carpet to dry it with the hope of drying and re-installing it. That effort failed so now the carpet down there will be replaced as well.

It has been a month since these pictures were taken. I'd like to have after pictures for you, but we aren't even close. Though I can say that the smell is gone. Thank goodness:) We have had the drywall on the ceilings and walls replaced but that is as far as we've gotten.

The good things- well, my new beautiful kitchen and central hub for the family was not touched, and none of the kids' bedrooms were effected. So thankfully we can still function as a family. However, we are living in a mess- things are piled up everywhere. And we are walking around on plywood floors.....

So when we first discovered it.... I honestly was in shock and trying to ignore it when we first walked in. I just unpacked the kids and didn't even walk around to access the damage. Hubs was walking around though and I could feel him getting more and more upset. He walked outside to gather more luggage from the overfilled van and I followed him. Just as I walked out, he was standing there with his hands full and a bird crapped right on him- funny now, but I didn't dare laugh then- anyway he was so upset, he said "seriously, could something more go wrong, please, come on." I stopped, hugged him (bird poo and all) and said we are blessed, this is nothing, it could be so much worse. Thank God we have a house, and that we all came home safe, and that everyone is healthy. At that point we put it into perspective. We are a team and well will survive. We were upset but there is a silver lining, more on that to come......

Garden Hunting

Well, when little girls want to go hunting- they head to the garden:) They were in search of some butterfly's. This was the last weekend before school started. It was so much fun to see them working together towards a common goal. In fact this summer was a great one! We did sooooo much. Lots of fun camps and art classes and visits to the library. But somehow in there it seems we had lots of family times too......

They got one! And they made so many memories this summer. We made a list of the things we wanted to do and had it hanging in the kitchen. We accomplished most of the things on that list. Some of the things were: sleeping out in the yard, hiking, a big family camping trip, biking, and visiting many parks and fun areas right around our house.

I think I enjoyed this summer more than any other summer we have ever had. I felt like it flew by but in a good way. Not because I didn't get to do the things I wanted, but just because we were having so much fun that I lost track of time!

Oh, and did I mention. We spent a lot of time in the garden this year. It was beautiful! and we are still enjoying some of the fruits of our labor.... tomatoes, flowers, sweet potatoes, jalapenos, they are still coming....
This summer, I noticed something more..... My girls are growing up, my girls are good sweet fun girls that I truly enjoy being around. I know, of course I think that, they are my girls- right? well, I can be honest- there are times during motherhood that you don't enjoy it- that you are tired and frustrated and feeling like a slave and you say things like I enjoy it cause you think you should.... but honestly, I really really really enjoyed motherhood and my girls and our family this summer. Thank you God.