It's been a great week because NOTHING IS BROKEN! I couldn't be more excited about that. This week has also included...
baking goodies for visiting teaching/home teaching families/birthdays/teacher parties
wrapping the last few presents
enjoying our advent calendar from Sam & Jesse
cleaning out the fridge before our trip
packing and other trip preparation
an ugly sweater Christmas party
getting Christmas cards ready to send...a much slower process than I originally thought! We both have pretty big families. :)
I love Christmas, but I hate traveling. We'll see how it goes with 3 children!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Well...
It hasn't been my week. Just to review what's happened in the last 7 days...
1. Giant snowstorm that dropped 18 inches in a day. We couldn't get the car all the way home that night.
2. Heater stopped working, so we had a very cold night until James got on the roof and cleared the vent.
3. Car battery died. Replaced it, but the car probably still needs another part. It doesn't start easily.
4. Broken pipe. I called 10 plumbers (all the ones in Vernal), but NO ONE was available until at least Monday. A few said they'd call me back with a guy who could come after hours, but they didn't. I called up my dad, and he gave me the reassurance that we could fix this ourselves as long as it was a PVC pipe (and not copper) that broke. James enlisted the help of our neighbor to pump water from the crawl space (lest it freeze and crack the foundation) till 11 last night. We bought the stuff we needed from Lowe's for about 20 bucks and fixed it pretty easily. The main lame thing is that our water is still off because the glue has to set for 24 hours.
I'm grateful for food storage! I had just bought a supply of water (3 days' worth) a few months ago, and now I am using it. I have enough to cook, clean (though not dishes), and flush toilets when needed. I feel gross for not taking a shower today and smell like sour milk, but I'm not dragging all 3 kids somewhere just to shower. Haha.
God is looking out for us, though it's easier to be positive about things once they're fixed. A plumber would've cost us a lot of money, and since things are a little tight right now due to my medical bills, it's a blessing that we had to fix it ourselves. We learned a few valuable things along the way, too.
On the bright side, if I'm ever asked if I'd rather go without heat, a car, or water for a day, I'd definitely say the car. I can stand being home all day since I do it all the time anyway, but living without heat for a day was miserable, and living without water for almost 2 days is annoying, even though I am as prepared as I could be. I can't wait to get the water back on tonight so I can wash my hands for real and not just use hand sanitizer and baby wipes!
1. Giant snowstorm that dropped 18 inches in a day. We couldn't get the car all the way home that night.
2. Heater stopped working, so we had a very cold night until James got on the roof and cleared the vent.
3. Car battery died. Replaced it, but the car probably still needs another part. It doesn't start easily.
4. Broken pipe. I called 10 plumbers (all the ones in Vernal), but NO ONE was available until at least Monday. A few said they'd call me back with a guy who could come after hours, but they didn't. I called up my dad, and he gave me the reassurance that we could fix this ourselves as long as it was a PVC pipe (and not copper) that broke. James enlisted the help of our neighbor to pump water from the crawl space (lest it freeze and crack the foundation) till 11 last night. We bought the stuff we needed from Lowe's for about 20 bucks and fixed it pretty easily. The main lame thing is that our water is still off because the glue has to set for 24 hours.
I'm grateful for food storage! I had just bought a supply of water (3 days' worth) a few months ago, and now I am using it. I have enough to cook, clean (though not dishes), and flush toilets when needed. I feel gross for not taking a shower today and smell like sour milk, but I'm not dragging all 3 kids somewhere just to shower. Haha.
God is looking out for us, though it's easier to be positive about things once they're fixed. A plumber would've cost us a lot of money, and since things are a little tight right now due to my medical bills, it's a blessing that we had to fix it ourselves. We learned a few valuable things along the way, too.
On the bright side, if I'm ever asked if I'd rather go without heat, a car, or water for a day, I'd definitely say the car. I can stand being home all day since I do it all the time anyway, but living without heat for a day was miserable, and living without water for almost 2 days is annoying, even though I am as prepared as I could be. I can't wait to get the water back on tonight so I can wash my hands for real and not just use hand sanitizer and baby wipes!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Turkey, Gravy, and Distress-ing
The past two weeks have been a little hard and not quite as I'd pictured. We've spent all our Thanksgivings in Rexburg with James's parents and grandparents, but this year I convinced him not to travel so I could invite my 3 siblings who are at BYU-I.
They arrived Tuesday night, so I didn't get a lot of sleep. I did all (or most) of the cooking that day, and Katie took a nice, long nap in morning, which was convenient. The kitchen was a total wreck, but Mara helped me clean it up.
Things got a little more stressful Thanksgiving Day. The turkey was done early by 2 hours, so I had to rush like mad to get the rolls done and make sure everything was ready. Our menu:
turkey
sausage cornbread dressing
gravy
mashed potatoes
rolls
cranberry sauce (ew, from a can. Only Myles likes it.)
green bean casserole
candied yams (which everyone likes but me)
apple pie
pecan pie
French silk pie
pumpkin pie
I made everything from scratch (minus the cranberry sauce and one pie crust, which was graham cracker instead of a regular crust.) I think I spent 8 hours in the kitchen altogether. It was intense.
The meal was great, but the rest of the week was a little depressing for me. Moms just don't get vacations. Everyone else wanted to stay up really late (though James not as late, but still later than me.) I had very little sleep, and everyone got to play computer games, go paintballing, and go shooting. Now, I don't like computer games or paintballing, but I have a great time shooting. However, I was at home with all the kids. I felt a little taken advantage of. However, James and I had a great date on Friday to see Catching Fire, which is an amazing movie! I had spent the day crying about one thing or another due to lack of sleep, so my eyes were really puffy. :(
I took everyone to see the dinosaur bones on Saturday. They thought it was pretty cool. Sunday we blessed Katie and somehow survived all of church with the kids! Kenny cried a bit in nursery, but due to sickness (not always his), he has only been twice now. They are great with him, though, and I think he will do even better next week. We blessed Katie, and I failed to take a picture, but she didn't wear a dress. She wore a white boy's outfit with tights under it, and she was asleep for her blessing, so no one saw anyway since she was swaddled. Her blessing mentioned that she'd be a strength and comfort to her brothers. I thought that was really sweet.
I thought this would calm down a bit this week. James has been staying late every day. We got a MEGA snowstorm yesterday that dumped 18 inches of snow. James couldn't get the car all the way home since they hadn't plowed yet and it was too deep. Then, our heater stopped working. We were pretty cold since our house got down to 50 degrees. I had a terrible night of sleep, even with an extra blanket. James fixed the heater this morning by getting on the roof and clearing the vent. The sun came out, they plowed the road, and the house is warm again. James had a snow day until 3:30 when he had to go to parent/teacher conferences. I think it's totally ridiculous, because who the heck is going to show up?
Well, this has been quite the stressful week. It's funny how any of my terrible sleep hasn't been Katie's fault at all. She still does very well. She is also smiling! Of course I don't have a picture yet...but soon!
So in case anyone reads to the very end, this is what I take from the past week:
1. Hosting your own Thanksgiving is a lot of work. I'm not sure I'll take it on again for a very long time.
2. The schedules of college students and moms with young kids are not very compatible.
3. I still hate snow. A winter like this about 6 years ago is what ruined it for me. It makes me feel really claustrophobic.
4. I'm more grateful than ever for having a warm house!
5. There is always an end to the storm, no matter how dark, cold, and long it is.
They arrived Tuesday night, so I didn't get a lot of sleep. I did all (or most) of the cooking that day, and Katie took a nice, long nap in morning, which was convenient. The kitchen was a total wreck, but Mara helped me clean it up.
Things got a little more stressful Thanksgiving Day. The turkey was done early by 2 hours, so I had to rush like mad to get the rolls done and make sure everything was ready. Our menu:
turkey
sausage cornbread dressing
gravy
mashed potatoes
rolls
cranberry sauce (ew, from a can. Only Myles likes it.)
green bean casserole
candied yams (which everyone likes but me)
apple pie
pecan pie
French silk pie
pumpkin pie
I made everything from scratch (minus the cranberry sauce and one pie crust, which was graham cracker instead of a regular crust.) I think I spent 8 hours in the kitchen altogether. It was intense.
The meal was great, but the rest of the week was a little depressing for me. Moms just don't get vacations. Everyone else wanted to stay up really late (though James not as late, but still later than me.) I had very little sleep, and everyone got to play computer games, go paintballing, and go shooting. Now, I don't like computer games or paintballing, but I have a great time shooting. However, I was at home with all the kids. I felt a little taken advantage of. However, James and I had a great date on Friday to see Catching Fire, which is an amazing movie! I had spent the day crying about one thing or another due to lack of sleep, so my eyes were really puffy. :(
I took everyone to see the dinosaur bones on Saturday. They thought it was pretty cool. Sunday we blessed Katie and somehow survived all of church with the kids! Kenny cried a bit in nursery, but due to sickness (not always his), he has only been twice now. They are great with him, though, and I think he will do even better next week. We blessed Katie, and I failed to take a picture, but she didn't wear a dress. She wore a white boy's outfit with tights under it, and she was asleep for her blessing, so no one saw anyway since she was swaddled. Her blessing mentioned that she'd be a strength and comfort to her brothers. I thought that was really sweet.
I thought this would calm down a bit this week. James has been staying late every day. We got a MEGA snowstorm yesterday that dumped 18 inches of snow. James couldn't get the car all the way home since they hadn't plowed yet and it was too deep. Then, our heater stopped working. We were pretty cold since our house got down to 50 degrees. I had a terrible night of sleep, even with an extra blanket. James fixed the heater this morning by getting on the roof and clearing the vent. The sun came out, they plowed the road, and the house is warm again. James had a snow day until 3:30 when he had to go to parent/teacher conferences. I think it's totally ridiculous, because who the heck is going to show up?
Well, this has been quite the stressful week. It's funny how any of my terrible sleep hasn't been Katie's fault at all. She still does very well. She is also smiling! Of course I don't have a picture yet...but soon!
So in case anyone reads to the very end, this is what I take from the past week:
1. Hosting your own Thanksgiving is a lot of work. I'm not sure I'll take it on again for a very long time.
2. The schedules of college students and moms with young kids are not very compatible.
3. I still hate snow. A winter like this about 6 years ago is what ruined it for me. It makes me feel really claustrophobic.
4. I'm more grateful than ever for having a warm house!
5. There is always an end to the storm, no matter how dark, cold, and long it is.
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