Flooding 2011

The flood waters are back. We're still high and dry and hope to remain that way all year. We were blessed last year to stay dry. despite the fact that ALL our neighbors flooded. Thank you God! When Declan examined the water's edge last night he promptly shouted, "Mommy, God must have decided to flood the Earth again." And today when we drove past the doggy park to check it out (it was quite flooded) he again said, "Why does God keep flooding the Earth." They just did Noah's Arc last week at school.....can you tell?

We also lose access to the bike path. Which means we can't get to any park unless we hop in the car. It's a bummer and I hope they recede before park season is in full swing.

It looks like the water goes forever, it doesn't. Our house is just on the other side of all this water. At least the snow is almost gone?!?

Bennett got to try out his new (old?) rainboots. His little legs walked the entire way of our walk. Apparently, he likes walking much better when its not cold and there is no snow involved.

And he enjoyed walking through the water.

And of course sticking his hands in it.

Please keep us, and all of Sioux Falls, in your prayers that these flood waters remain minimal and cause little damage.

Spring Flood 2010

Saturday morning as I was cooking breakfast I looked out the window and noticed that the river had come up over its banks. Just 12 hours before we had commented that it was pretty close to the edge of the bank. We didn't really think much about it and packed up the boys to go to the sportsmen show.

Two hours later we got home and immediately noticed the river was much higher. I'll admit, I started freaking out, but Trevor and our neighbor didn't seem to think it was a big deal. They just kept putting stakes out there marking the water. It must be a man thing!

By Sunday morning the river was getting really close to our house. Close enough for us to panic, or at least I did, Trevor's pretty laid back, he never shows much panic or nervousness. You see on Saturday morning when the river was much farther away Trevor made the comment that if the water got to the "big tree" (the one on the left side of this picture) we would start moving things upstairs. I think all I said was, "Holy Crap its to the big tree." I don't think either of us ever thought it would get that far.

It had spread over towards our playground too. We made a few phone calls to see if sandbagging was in our future. I was fairly certain it was, Trevor and our neighbor.....not so much. The thing these pictures don't show very well is the slope in our yard. It's fairly steep and unless you are standing on the other side of the park, by the playground or the river, you don't really notice it.

We got in the car to go check things out. This picture doesn't show the angle either but its as close as I could get to getting a picture of the back of our house without getting wet and muddy.

We drove down to Falls Park to check things out there and it was insane. The amount of water running through there was the most I've ever seen. Which really doesn't say much since we've only lived here 3 years. But believe me when I tell you it was alot and it was loud and really neat to see.

Usually we can climb on most of these rocks. Most of them were either under water or no where near being safe enough to climb on.

By Sunday late afternoon we noticed that the water was starting to go down, you can see it on the tree lines. I started to breath a sigh of relief. Then around 5pm I noticed huge chunks of ice floating down the river. I wish we had videotaped it (that would require a working video camera). It was insane to see. They just kept coming and coming and coming. Large sheets of ice, big trees rushing down the river, crashing into trees and loosening up all this water in the park.

By this morning the water was down considerably. Thank God. It looks like we should be ok. Thank you to everyone for your prayers. Thank you to all our friends who offered to help. What a blessing to know how many people would jump right in and help us save our house.

Trevor 1, Mole 0

Towards the end of the summer we started to notice little trails in the park right near our property line. At the time they didn't go through our lawn so we ignored it...which is the proper homeowner thing to do. A few weeks later we noticed that they were starting to reach our lawn, again doing the proper home owner thing...we ignored. Then one day we stuck Emily out on her leash and she went nuts on the yard, digging a nice size whole in a matter of seconds. And it dawned on us...

She would be looking for the mole that had now dug its way through a good chunk of our backyard. Hmmm, note to self...ignoring mole trails close to your yard....not a good move.

So daddy and the big boys headed to Menards in search of some sort of Mole trap. What they came back with was slightly disturbing, sharp and reusable! Perfect. So they set the trap and checked it for a few nights...nothing. We thought maybe since it had snowed and gotten cold the mole had gone into mole hibernation. Then one day the trap was triggered but no mole. Seems the trap couldn't get through the ground. So, we reset it and one night last week...

Viola! Mole has been caught!!

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog! Please make sure to bookmark our new site so you can keep up with all our happenings. All our old postings can be found here now too!

We are just 2 weeks away from our new arrival. Hard to believe its that close. We've had a very busy few days, weeks and months as we've tried to finish our basement in order to accommodate our growing family. All of us our very excited to sleep in our new rooms for the first time tonight. Here's hoping that the boys do well with the room switch. There are still a few things that need to be done...trim work, doors, and some laminate or ceramic tile in the hallway but its good enough for us to move in. MANY THANKS to our parents who helped us get this far!

Looking into my new closet.

And in case you've forgotten what this wall used to look like....

I posted a picture to jog your memory. It was a beauty wasn't it.

And the boys' new room with their bunk bed in 700 pieces. Surprisingly it only took Trevor and I about an hour last night to reassemble it.

Only 1 doctor appt and 4 ultrasounds left until this baby makes his or her entrance. I'm so ready its not even funny anymore. The baby is still doing great despite an enormous amount of fluid in me. I go again on Friday and they will do a weight check to see just how big he or she is getting. Here are some pictures from yesterday's visit.

The Basement

It seems the basement has taken up most of our summer. As we near the arrival of another baby we've been feverishly working on the basement to get it done in time. And, knock on wood, it looks like we might get there. We are so excited to have it done and so are the boys. Here are some pictures of our progress.....

I painted the boys' new room while they were away for a weekend. I thought it would only take me a day and a half...I was wrong!

It took me 3 days. And I swear on my life I will never paint a room blue again. Between the red and the blue I did 6 coats plus one wall is khaki so that makes 7 coats. At least it turned out nice but it was enough to drive me crazy!

The boys had a blast with the pink foam insulation. They piled it high and smashed it to pieces.

Declan enjoyed hanging out the fireplace hole one last time before it got closed up.

Taking a break with daddy.

Daddy's Little Helpers.

View into my new closet. Which is about 18 times larger then the one I have now.....and I'm not even exaggerating.


And then there was sheetrock!

Doorway to my new bedroom (from inside the bedr00m)

Doorway into the closet.

A whole lotta catchup

Spring! It's here! I love spring. It smells good. It looks good. It feels good. It is the BEST season. Today we didn't get in the car to go anywhere, we didn't need to go to the store or Target or run any other kind of errand. We got in the bike and went to the park. Then we came home and had lunch on the deck with daddy. I love spring because it makes me appreciate being a stay at home mom even more. Days like today are simply the best! As you can see the boys were thrilled to be outside. So much stuff to climb on, so many places to run around and so much energy to use up!

I even tried to snap a picture of the boys by the river. They, along with most children I assume, have difficulty taking a decent picture. It either turns out serious and weird....

or goofy! Good thing they're so cute.

Tomorrow I will be 18 weeks. I feel MUCH better. Thank Goodness!! But man has this been the longest 18 weeks of my life. I've felt a few small kicks here and there and we have our ultrasounds scheduled for later this month (no we won't find out the sex). I must be showing enough or my neighbor is very brave. She came out on the porch today and yelled across the street wondering if I was pregnant. Good thing I was otherwise that would have been a major open mouth insert foot moment.

And some random photos I have to share.

Despite cutting off all his hair Declan still has the ability to sport some crazy hair.

Go Twins!


I was left alone this weekend for the WHOLE weekend. Yes you read that right...no kids, no husband, no poopy diapers (but we have had 6 between both boys since their return, I've changed and wiped all of them.), no early morning wakings, no tantrums, no whining, no PB&J making, no lego playing...you get the drift. It was GLORIOUS! My biggest project for the weekend was painting the bathroom. I don't really want to talk about it, let's just say I am NEVER painting a bathroom again. I love how it is turning out but it was one big pain in the butt and took me ALL DAY on Saturday.

And here's a sneak peek of our new blue bathroom. I'm still trying to put it back together and put everything back where it belongs so until that is done this will have to do. I'll hopefully be back later this week with some before and after photos of our new blue bathroom.

Ramblings

Carson was requested a "samwich" everday for lunch for at least the past 2 weeks. And he's gotten it every time he asks. For a moment I feel guilty but then I realize just how easy it is to make PB&J and I succumb to the pressure of coming up with something else. Today I wanted to stop and grab something for lunch but he insisted on having a "samwich."

At school the kids take turns bringing snacks. Thursday is Carson's turn. And for some reason I have snack anxiety. You see snack time seems to be the thrill of the day for all 3 year olds. Every parent has the same conversation with their child as they walk out the school door, "What did you do in school today?" and you can hear every child answer the same thing, "We had ____ for snack today." It's quite comical actually and makes me want to provide the best snack ever so I can hear the comments from all the little people when school is over! Oh the pressure!

So I've kept track of what's been served. I mean we don't want to have any repeats. No ma'am, not in this house where we eat PB&J for lunch everyday. I've also asked Carson a few times what he would like to bring. His answers have varied, Samwiches, apples, crackers, cake, little cookies. It seems his answers go along with whatever it was they had for snack that day. Today it was a little cookies so he insisted I make little cookies for him. I said how about big cookies? And he gleefully agreed. So I guess I'll be making a batch of chocolate chip cookies for him.

Now, what to bring for show-n-tell??

We started swim lessons last night. Declan is in his last session of parent-tot. And he's the biggest and oldest kid in his class. He's probably a little past being in that class but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to stand up because he is so short. So last night he sang along with all the songs, screamed hello to his daddy in the balcony and insisted on squirting me with his frog toy the whole time. The other babies (and they were babies, most under a year) sucked their thumbs and giggled. It was pretty comical to see the difference in them. Carson loved his lessons too. No fear in going to his teacher and he hopped right in!

This weekend it was time to bust out our door to the garage. It was only a 30 inch wide door so if you were carrying anything it required entering sideways. Plus it was very poorly insualted. So my father-in-law and Trevor decided to install a 36 inch door. By LATE Sunday afternoon my entry way looked like this.

Luckily (for my husband's sake!) the door was installed on Sunday. However, there is still black tape over the deadbolt and a 12 inch whole at the top that needs sheetrock or insulation or both. I have no idea, that is NOT my department. At any rate, the door is awesome and I can't wait to get it all done, get the rest of those weird mirrors off my entryway wall and paint!

A Change in the Yard

Guess what we did this weekend? And the answer is not putting rocks around the tree (at least not the one I'm looking for)....nice try. Keep guessing.

Any idea what this is? We have a nine foot bush full of them. They don't really have a scent either.

Checking for worms in the puddles.

He's so proud that he went into the house by himself and got dressed after he got his shorts all wet. You really can't tell from this picture but those are Declan's sweatpants. Goof!

Have you figured out what we did this weekend yet? Here's another view.


Any guesses????


Here's the before picture.

Yes, we really did take it down and I love it.