New Piping is complete

Finally, we have running water - hot and cold in all areas that there should be!!!
and none where there should not be...
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HOORAY!

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Now for the drywall people and the carpet people to come finish putting the house back together.

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The end is in site!

Peek-A-B00

Logan where are you?


I found Logan.
I am in the down stairs bathroom.
He is in the family room.
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We have one bathroom with water.
and that one bathroom has a big hole in the wall.
Well, a few big holes.
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Only working bathroom, so it will have to do.

Problem fixed, well sort of.

You can't really fully grasp the magnitude from pic, but everything looks like this downstairs.

Since, I had no running water today and dogs really aren't good helpers for plumbers, the dogs and I visited Daddy at work for a little bit at lunch.

Honey wants her house back.
Plumbers and other peeps be gone.
A little dog needs her space.

Kids with the kids

It's all in your attitude, right?

It has now been 5 weeks since a little wet spot was noted on Logan's carpet in his room. At first we thought, maybe after a weekend in AZ the dog(s) were confused and had an accident... Then, after a little investigation - doesn't look yellow, doesn't 'smell' yellow, and ... "Well, come on they are only 5 pound dogs how MUCH pee can they possibly make in one go really?" It was concluded there was a leak (and not of the four legged kind, darn it)...
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How hard could it be to fix a leak? Really???
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Well, 5 weeks out, let me tell you - REALLY Hard!
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The first plumber was well, for lack of a better word - INEPT. Now they are going to have to re-pipe the ENTIRE house. You just can't even imagine.
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So, as of last Thursday night we had no hot water. (snicker, laugh)... I thought NO HOT WATER was insane. I was wrong. No water at all, that's much worse. We have had NO water since Friday.
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Seemed like a sign that we should go to AZ visit my Dad and help out with Easter Pageant auditions. Because, you know, they said we would AT LEAST have water to the downstairs bathroom by Saturday afternoon, and while still inconvenient the luxury of flushing a toilet and showering sounded exciting.
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We came home Saturday night.
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No WATER
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Landlord sent us to hotel (as is required by law when there is no water).
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Doesn't sound too bad, right?
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Well, when you have 7 pets, and pets are not allowed at the hotel...
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That means someone has to sleep at home (come on, look at that face - what choice is there)

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So. Todd slept at home with little Lily (and menagerie on Saturday night), while I hoped against all odds. Just get water to downstairs bathroom. Come on, just ONE bathroom, one sink. PLEASE...
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Nope... Sunday night I slept at home. It is only fair, and they did manage to get water to laundry machine! So, while I couldn't wash my hands, I could wash some clothes.
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Did I mention I HATE to sleep alone in my house?
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Two nights without a hubby next to me while I slept too, I might add.

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So, as I am sitting here waiting for the plumbers to come back and commence with the drilling, dust and chaos, I am trying to regain perspective.
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Here are some things that currently are making me crazy:

When we came home last night EVERY thing was moved from the above room...

... and this is the wall where the Entertainment center use to be. You can actually see right through the wall into the bathroom into Logan's 'old' room...

interesting tile repair
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I decided NOT to post anymore pictures of all the torn up walls (you can't even imagine Logan's room), because I AM trying to stay positive.
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Things that make me smile:

at hotel

Dad you are included too, sorry didn't take a pic when we visited.

Sunday, we had to flee. Too much noise and dust (and no water), so we went to see My Mom. (What's a 180 mile round trip after an 800 mile round trip to AZ the day before, right?)

Mom's House

Mom's funny goats.
(Check out kids playing with goats above)

and my pups:

That's right. What's important. Sweet family, cute pets. Who needs water?
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Me, just a little though.
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Bonus pic (for Mom):


Mom's 'fountain' creation

Biker Chicks

(Photo credit: unknown)

Todd emailed this to me today!!! Love it! Had to share... Especially, since you know, well, Todd is my 'chick magnet'. See Halloween post below if you missed that. (:

ok. leak update.

It has been now over 3 weeks since we first noticed the leak in Logan's room...
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and his room is still swampy
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oh and there are holes in the walls and floor all over, good times.
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Kitchen wall. There are holes in walls in the cupboards as well. We had a giant lizard with a tail as long as a snake come visit yesterday. Wish I had my camera, before he was redirected to the back yard.

about an 8 foot hole in the ceiling in family room.

Down stairs bathroom

One of the holes in the wall in Logo's room (see how wet it is)

Logan's room - Constant flow of water, meaning we have to keep water off as much as possible.

Is the end in site??? Please let it be. Plumbers return tomorrow to replace yet another line of piping. More Jack Hammering!! Yay! Let's hope that this time the water stops!

Oh, and Krystin is sick. Enough said.

Happy Halloween!

I Love Having Children! Seriously, there are SOOO many benefits... Awesome hugs, sweet smiles, cool homemade gifts, and most importantly they make Holidays sooo much more fun!

Daddy had to go to Chicago this past week. We were all VERY sad without him, and very busy. The children and I had to get pumpkins without him, and then carve them with out him. Ok, I won't lie. Todd reallllyyy doesn't like carving pumpkins (strange, I know!). So, the kids and I didn't feel too guilty when we had a great time carving ours.

Logan's Pumpkin:

Krystin's Pumpkin:

Kayla's Pumpkin:

and mine:

The girl's had the honor of decorating:

and the puppies helped (well sort of)

...and where was Logan???

running of course... Go Logan!

Ok, so we didn't feel badly that we carved pumpkins without Daddy, but we did feel a slight twinge of sadness when we went to Disneyland without him! Sorry Todd you were outta town and kids had the day off!

Yay Halloween - Disneyland!!! Extra Cool! (:

Costumes

What to do about costumes? The daunting question every year... Well, this year my girls asked me to make them costumes. I thought that it sounded like a fun idea, so I opened the sewing machine that my Dad gave me for Christmas last year and decided to give it a try. Yes, it took me 10 months to find time to open the sewing machine, sad really.

I had the girls decide what they wanted to be and let them pick material.

Kayla wanted to be a 'dark fairy'... ooow...

Krystin wanted to be a 'Woodland Pixie':

As for Logan, he wasn't sure what he wanted to be. Really, he tried, we tried, and no decision was made. So, I suggested that he be "Knight of the living dead" (you get it, right?)... He liked it! Yes! We had Todd's costume from last year, so with a few modifications:

Those are his intestines if you were wondering.

All three:

Todd had found this "chick magnet" costume and wanted it. I spent so much time helping the kids I hadn't really thought about what I might want to be, so I figured Hey why not do 80's. The girls loved it.

Krystin and Kayla went trick or treating. Logan was too tired from Cross Country and we had a 'Dead Man's Party' to go to that evening, so he stayed home to get some rest. Although, did I mention We STILL HAVE A LEAK?! Yes, it is true. So, Logan stayed home to rest and got to help move more furniture. But, lets not think about that right now..

Krystin and friends

Lily the 'reindeer'. . .

Bonus: Honey is hiding in one of the pictures with the kids. Can you find her?

Bonus Bonus: For a laugh click on Lily's picture above.