Food, Friends, and 40,000 bottle rockets

 

We invited all our neighbors, we cooked, we played with the kids, we fondly remembered the neighbor who’s funeral was just two days before.  The kids were allowed to eat whatever, whenever.

Aria was allowed to light her first bottle rockets.  She insisted on wearing cleats so she could run faster.

Piper dealt well with all the noise.

 

Jackson helped clear the tables when we weren’t looking.

         This shot is actually from last year, our friends lit 40,000 bottle rockets in celebration of their marriage! Cool right?!

Tackle it Tuesday – JC’s room

 

My house is still a disaster, I figured the only way to stay on task was to blog about it, and 5 Minutes for Mom happens to have the remedy: “Tackle It Tuesday”.  Now, I have to admit that this week’s room of choice has been a long standing sore spot around the house.  We just had major water damage and work to do on the main floor, but this room is on the third floor.  (Yes, we have three full floors – no wonder I get behind!)  The shape of this room is embarrassing, but at least we’re not on “Hoarders” quite yet.  JC’s room, formerly the “toy room” or as we used it, the dump-it-in-there-if-you-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-it room began it’s life as an extra room where we stored boxes we hadn’t gone through after we moved.  That was now 5 years ago.  I am standing firm on the new pledge:  If we haven’t needed it in 5 year, we probably never will.  Time to purge!!!  With that in mind, here’s the room:

         

Anyone who’s been to our house recognizes this garbage dump as the “toy room”.  The black hole of toys.  I decided to just start at the door and tie a rope around my waist and make my way to the back.  On one side of me a garbage bag, the other side a tote for actual “keeper” toys.  When the kids would come to see what was going on, I swear they thought it was Christmas.  Long lost toys reappeared.  Some we parted with and donated, others we decided were trash.  This was much more than a one-day project.  I am proud to say we made it out alive!!

We bagged up two large bags of broken toys and empty boxes.  I found two disgusting sippy cups that also got trashed.  JC has a cute crib bedding set that I was finally able to use, complete with a matching valance.  Now all this room needs is a good color to be painted…. any suggestions?

 

Tackle it Tuesday – Kitchen of Chaos

 

I figured the only way to stay on task was to blog about it, and 5 Minutes for Mom happens to have the remedy: “Tackle It Tuesday”.  Perhaps you saw a taste of what I was in store for last week with my kitchen photos.  I decided today was really the day.  I need at least one clean room in this house!!  So here’s some before shots (these look better than last week!):

After the kitchen had been literally shoveled out from the debris of the ceiling, there were chunks of plaster everywhere.  Water and dirt had dried to the floor. Yuck.  I started at the top and worked my way down to the floor.  I hauled out 2 large bags of junk and that big trash can full of plaster and wood pieces.  It took me most of the day…but I got it done!!

I have to say HOORAY! for Mr. Clean with Febreze (Meadow and Rain scent, and no, I’m not advertising), that stuff was so nice!!  I was getting really tired of that yucky dirty water smell and the Mr. Clean really did the trick.  I had to haul the buckets of water from upstairs, this sink still isn’t working.  What I still need to tackle:  The front of the fridge! But I need some sleep first!

Friday Fragments – Slowly getting back

It seems it’s been forever since I purged my mind with some fragments! I have no idea what’s going on and I hope to get back into the swing in the bloggy world soon!  Need more info on the whole “fragments” thing?  Go see Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissing Time for all the rules!

• I feel like my life has been on hold and now that I’m starting to come back, I realize every one else’s lives have gone on around me.  I missed some things and now I need to catch up!
• I slept in my bed for the first time in over 6 weeks on Thursday.  It was dreamy after all the couches and spare rooms I’ve been in.  It took until Thursday because hubby and I stayed in the living room so we could listen for any “mishaps”.
• The kids’ Bento boxes at school have been a big hit.  They rarely come home with leftovers (usually not enough time to eat!) and they’ve been eating really healthy foods.  Plus they’re fun!
• TMI alert: My armpit hair is getting long.  No, not metaphorically, well maybe a little metaphorically.  I mean I haven’t taken the time to do that particular bit of maintenance in quite some time.  Kind of embarrassing, but no one sees lately so I don’t care.  Thought I’d share :)
• I’m working on a new blog header for spring.  I’ll probably put it up early in hopes that spring will hurry up and get here already.  Then comes the flood….
• They are predicting locally that this spring’s flood waters will be as high if not higher than last year’s.  Way to go local government for arguing for an entire year about permanent dikes and never putting them up.  I’m sure your community will appreciate the thought.
• Last year our little town was pretty safe, but Fargo (largest nearby town) was hit pretty badly.  My hubby ended up on active duty for the National Guards for a little over a month.  He’s going active for a month in March for an unrelated job, which means when he gets back he’ll go straight into the flood duty I’m sure.  I may not see him until MAY!!
• I really, really like Press N Seal cling wrap.  Why have I not been using this product before now???
• I have sooo much to clean around here and I don’t know where to start.  I suppose hubby is leaving just in time for me to do the majority of it!  I wish I could just take a pressure washer in my house and just hose everything down! Hmmm, that would be kind of fun actually!

That’s about it for me!! Have a good weekend!!

The Scoop

The heat is on!  Literally.  The new boiler is installed and after 3 days of repairing leaks to the heating lines and plumbing lines we have a warm house.  In fact I turned the heat down a bit last night, it was exciting!!  We lost a few radiators to the leaks as we had to remove some lines that were just un-repairable.  We currently have one (of 3) working toilets, and in a separate bathroom we have a shower and sink.  We also have one kitchen sink (of 2) working.  The house is functional at least, just a bit inconvenient.  Its dirty, too.  The necessity of cutting into ceilings to get at plumbing left a huge mess.  The plumbers removed the big stuff, but the floors are covered in dirt, water, and insulation.  I won’t let the kids walk on the first floor without shoes until we can really scrub.  We’re at a lull right now as we transition from the “boiler guys” to the “plumbing guys” since two different jobs are being paid for differently.

The old boiler came out in pieces.  They said as soon as they started to lift it out it just fell apart.

Looking out the window into the back yard, you can see the chunks of rust that was our boiler.

Our entry way is filled with fallen, wet insulation (we use the back anyway) and my floors look terrible!

They used a shovel to clean my kitchen.  They threw away all our swimming towels!!! I was using them to contain all the water on the floor before they arrived.

It took 3 days to track down every leak and seal the system.

The pair of pipes he was working on weren’t salvageable, they ran floor to ceiling, we cut them out completely.

The shiny new boiler system up and running!

We have a ways to go yet, but at least we’re home.

Trials

This week has been hard.  This month has been hard.  I never expected to be stuck without a house for over 5 weeks now.  I’m loosing track of days quickly, I judge time by who’s house we were at that week, who’s couch I was sleeping on.  I find myself getting after the kids more often than truly necessary, I feel stressed out and bored at the same time.  I miss my life.  This is all some weird side track we’re on and I can’t wait to get back on the main path.  If it were just my husband and me it really wouldn’t be so bad, but I feel sorry for the kids.  They’ve missed so much school, and spent weeks at a time at other (very wonderful) people’s houses when we couldn’t find a place to stay all together.  Honestly, how many people do you know that can take in a family of 6 all at once??  All the time they spent at other homes, I kept thinking This is not what I signed up for.  I should be doing that.  I hate inconveniencing people.  I hate it.  When the kids have homework, I want to be there to help them.  When the need discipline, I want to be there.  That’s what I signed up for, that’s my job, and I actually want to do those things.  It was really hard for me to hand over those reigns for a week at a time.

This week we’re all together in a hotel.  Um, apparently the state’s cheapest hotel, no lie.  It’s close quarters and we’re all feeling it.  And although I feel stressed and on edge, I prefer being here than farming out my children to (very wonderful) people.  I can’t miss any more of their lives, and even though it is kind of a big deal, I don’t want all this to be a big deal.  Really, in the grand scheme of things, 5 weeks is a speed bump.  I know they’ll remember not living in the house for a while, but I hope it doesn’t change them…but I already know it has.

These are our trials, as God gives them to us.  We all have them, in one way or another every single person we know is going through their own personal trial, whether we can see it or not.  The thing that makes you a bigger person is how you handle that trial.  1 Thessalonians 5:17-19 “ Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  It’s easy for me to thank him when my table if full of food, my house is warm, and I can turn on the faucet any time I like.  Prayer is harder these days, but I know its up to us as a family to remember to thank Him for what we continue to have.  Friends and family to take us in & to feed us, a vehicle, a roof over our head somewhere, each other (as I am reminded while I listen to four, yes, all four kids snoring louder than the next room’s noisy TV).  We are also thankful that the kids seem to be able to make themselves at home no matter where they are (Max, put your clothes back on! Not that at home!) And yes, this experience has changed all of us, but I think it has changed us for the better.  Here’s what we’ve learned:

• I was starting to really dislike our house for one reason or another.  I’ve come to realize it’s not our house I dislike, its how I’ve been living in that house.  I’d sure love to be living in it now.
• We really can make do with less.  Living with 5 days’ worth of clothes, minimal toys, and minimal space it has become very obvious we have too much and take it for granted.  We’ve already devised a large purging of our house once we get back in.
• Different houses = different rules.  Deal with it, but don’t be disrespectful, or you deal with dad.
• Turning up the heat is a luxury we take for granted around here, too.  I walked by the thermostat at our cold cold house today and wanted longed to reach for it and hear that boiler spark up.  Sigh.
• God will not abandon us nor will we abandon Him. 
• Living together as a family, even in tight quarters, is better than being spread apart.  That being said, we sure will enjoy our own spaces that much more when we have them back.
• I really, really miss our fast and always available internet.  I guess that’s not much of a lesson, more of a realization…or addiction? :)  I’ve missed you all, in any case!

So as soon as we get our house back I have some major changes to make.  I hope it will inspire you to make some changes, too, or at least appreciate the way things are.

Friday Fragments – No News is No News

Wow this week went fast, and now here we are again on Friday.  Mrs. 4444’s day for us to purge our thoughts for all to see and get ready for a mindless weekend…or something like that! You can see what’s really up at Half Past Kissing Time!

• Still no home to live in.  Well, we have a home, just no heat or water yet.  Still waiting.  Several people including our parents have called find out what our updates are.  None. That’s it. Nothing. Still. Waiting.
• I’m posting “A Chocolate A Day” this week into next.  Yum! (Oh, and I accidentally posted #3 a little early, so feel free to check it out.
• New favorite website: Engrish.com  Totally hilarious!!
• Other new fave, my BFF IRL Leanna’s new digs at her very own domain!! Her brother Bobby designed the layout and its fabulous!
• I am really missing my big kids this week.  I left them with friends so they could go to school while our house it still being repaired.  I haven’t seen them since Sunday!  I’m sure they miss us too!
• As much as I appreciate the couches I’ve slept on these last several weeks, I cannot WAIT to get into my own bed.  *sigh*
• We visited Karma (our dog) at the kennel last weekend.  She misses us!!
• Getting Aria ready to sell Girl Scout cookies for the first time…mmmmm, cookies!
• Still taking a picture a day for Project 365!
• I still need to get a netipot of my very own.  Not so sure about posting pictures of me USING it though.  I’ll leave that to Kristina P. and Mrs. 4444, who seem to have been thinking along the same lines last week!!  Was it netipot day and I wasn’t let in on the secret??
• I feel a blog header redesign coming on soon….we’ll see!
• And I just thought these were funny:

• Not much else to say, my weeks are are starting to blend together!

Its NOT ME living in a van down by the river

It’s time for another installment of “Not Me” Monday at MckMama’s.  I don’t do these too often, but I had a few things to “Not” get off my chest.  As if I did these sort of things.  Which I don’t…

I DID NOT spend the last 3+ weeks living at various houses with the kids.  Every time enjoying the gracious hosts but much more wishing I was at home instead.

I DID NOT feed my kids take-out all weekend because, well, we’re not home.

I DID NOT post to my Facebook account that we’re “living in a van down by the river” (to which some people laughed, others offered rooms!)

I DID NOT forget to mail out several Etsy orders from my Etsy shop.  I would NEVER wait so long to get my stuff in order, homeless or not!!

I DID NOT spend a night alone in a hotel with my husband….. while the kids were staying at someone else’s house!!

I DID NOT conceive baby #5 in said hotel room.  Really.  Did not.  I’m still holding to 4 is plenty.

I DID NOT order pizza at 10 am with my husband the next morning.

I DID NOT scream at the TV during the Vikings NFC game last night.  I don’t do that sort of “boy” stuff.

I DID NOT drive all the way back to our little town in questionable weather just to drop the kids off for school only to find out the next morning school had been cancelled due to weather.

I DID NOT hear that the schools were closed and promptly log in to see if the movie theaters were ALSO closed.  I’d never go out in such weather just for a movie!!

I DID NOT take some of my Project 365 photos from my camera phone.  I have a great camera, why would I use that crap-quality phone unless I was just being lazy?

I DID NOT forget the cord for my camera so I can’t upload my recent pictures anyway.

I AM NOT going completely insane and wishing I was back in my own home with ALL my kids.

Friday Fragments – Still Homeless

Today’s the day Mrs. 4444 urges us to purge our minds of all those tidbits… I should go to bed, so I’ll be brief!

• Still not back in our house.  There’s a big winter storm coming this weekend.  All I really want is to be stuck at home, with all four kids AND my husband. 
• Mrs. M had the big kids again part of this week so they could go to school.  I am so very grateful for such a wonderful family!!! They have eased my mind about such a big challenge! I’d hate for the whole house thing to mess up their school career. 
• There is at least a light at the end of the tunnel, but we expect it will be at least another week, AT LEAST, before we can get home again.  We are still waiting for everything to be ready so they can actually DO some work on our boiler, followed by the once-frozen plumbing.  Hurry up and wait.
• We have word that we may be eligible for help with paying for the boiler.  Frankly, it would take everything we have and then some to do it, so this is truly an answered prayer!
• Our friends have been so wonderful in letting us stay with them, yet I always fear wearing out our welcome.  We’ll be moving on this weekend….
• I just want to be home.  Did I mention that? I’m tired.
• I really hate all the details about the house, the heat, the plumbing, the insurance.  I don’t post it all because I hate it all.  That’s why I haven’t said much.  Maybe later when this is all in the past, I’ll feel more like its something to reminisce about.  For now I just plain hate it all.  I’m grateful to everyone who’s offered support, but I am terrible at asking for help and apparently not very good at being willing to accept it.
• I’m still taking pictures. Pictures of good things, happy things, like chocolates :)  I’ll post those this week. 
• JC hasn’t slept much, he’s calling me now.  Pack N Play’s just aren’t a good long term sleeping arrangement! Gotta go!

outlook

outlook  (out'lŏŏk') n.  mental attitude or view; point of view: one's outlook on life.

We may be homeless.  We may be tired. But at least I was able to get these:

Getting it all out there

Mrs. 4444 offers a weekly chance to purge your mind with “Friday Fragments”, clearing away the mental clutter just in time for a weekend full of it! Stop by Half Past Kissing Time for more details!

• Day 14 of being homeless.  Not sure what I’m talking about? The story is HERE.
• Max and Aria stayed with his teacher in town this week so they could go to school.  I am sooo grateful to Mrs. M for that!  I wonder how they will remember this whole experience? I’m hoping its all no big thing.
• JC has been sleeping poorly, and in turn so have I.  JC, Piper and I are at my BFF’s this week.  I have him in the pack-n-play in my room.  Apparently a thin foam covered piece of plywood is not comfortable for babies to sleep on…who would have thought?  Unfortunately, there isn’t another room for him to be in, or a crib, so we’ll have to stick it out a little longer.
• I’ve been doing Project 365 on Flickr.  Did you start one?  It’s a picture a day for a year.  You can see the set HERE.
• Before Christmas, the Canadian Pacific Railroad Holiday Train came through town.  It comes every year decorated in cool lights through little towns along the railway line.  They stop and open up one of the cars for a concert right there on the tracks!  Our town collects food donations for the local food pantry and the Fire Department serves free hot cocoa and doughnuts.  You need lots of hot cocoa…the train usually get here around 9pm and seems to always be the coldest day of December.  This year it was about –10 degrees I think.  I didn’t bring the kids out this year, its a little chilly to stand around past bedtime for a concert.  We live close enough that I could hear it outside, though!!

 

Here’s a video from the 2006 train.  I had recorded a song during the concert, too, but the audio didn’t really work, I think it was too loud for my little camera.

• I’m planning on revamping my Etsy shop this week.  Stop by!!! I’ll have new inventory, too!
• I will also be having a few giveaways soon, yaay!!
• After my first sad attempt, I made Snow Pops once again with my BFF this time.  They turned out SO much better!  We’re making some coated in dark chocolate tonight!!!

• We spent all of last week at my sister-in-law’s place.  The week went fast.  It was nice to have the kids together.  Of all the cousins, these are the closest in age to our kids and they really got along well. Can you tell which ones are mine?!

• Don’t forget to send up some prayers for the people and volunteers in Haiti.  My friend Erin (you saw her in the pics from MckMama’s party) was there during the quake, we’ve heard from her and she’s safe!  I just hope they can do some good and get back home!