"You need to get home NOW!"

And, that's how the conversation went Wednesday after noon when I walked down into our basement and found it was entirely covered in water that was ankle deep! Needless to say, I panicked! After calling Scott we had NO idea who to call. It's not like we could call Dad or Goggy! So, I called the first person I could think of....my hair dresser! haha! She's also a good friend whose husband just happens to do contracting, specializing in basements! So, Kraig and his Dad headed straight over. Thankfully, Scott was almost home, so by they time they arrived we were down in the basement wading through our belongings, trying to sort what was now trashed and what might be salvaged (and, let me just say, THANK GOODNESS all of the girls clothing was in plastic bins...I am embarassed to admit how much stuff would have been ruined and had they not been!)

Ugh....

Now, we think the sump pump went out Sunday, because the breaker on the washer tripped Sunday, also, and they share a breaker. It was definitely the sump pump that went out...I discovered the mess Wednesday, so that means our basement had been filling with water for nearly THREE days!! It had saturated the bottom of our stairs, all of that carpet and dry wall is ruined, along with the items that are ruined that we had in storage. THANK GOD we didn't have the basement totally finished yet. And, now we will never will because we are too afraid of it flooding again! ha!

Just splashin' around! ha!

We started tossing all the carpet, cardboard, paper, etc. that was ruined out this window, so we didn't have to drag all the wet stuff through the house. I think Scott wheeled off 5 or 6 wheel barrows full of stuff!

I waited until the pump was fixed and pumping water out before I busted out the camera for fear of Scott throwing my good camera into the water, also! haha! I did make him smile for one picture!

And, the girls were so excited...you know how kids get when their normal routine is thrown off...it was like a friggin' party to them! ha! They hung out on the steps most of the night...

And, finally had enough and got their boots on and came down...much to our telling them not too...But, at that point...what the hell?...come on down, girls!

Day 2...it all pumped out quickly, I will say that. I am just so grateful that we did have someone who was willing to come and help us. I seriously would have had no idea who to call, had I not called Allie and Kraig. And, it was nearing the end of the work day, so we very well could have had to sit with the water in the basement even longer.

Once most of it was dried out, we had to mop and bleach the entire thing! And, it's a BIG basement.

'It's a hard knock life for us!'...She really was having fun and begged to help, I promise! haha!

We managed to get it all done yesterday, we still have 5 fans and a de-humidifier running down there. We tried to shop vac the carpet but it was a lost cause. Our parents are coming this weekend to finish all of that up and decide what we are going to do. We didn't lose too much, thankfully, other than some furniture, toys, carpet, etc. The garage is full of stuff that is drying out and then we will see what of that we can save or what needs to be tossed, but like I said...the most important things were fine....all that darling little girl clothing! haha!

Homemaker

HOMEMAKER! Ummm...who knew one little word would create so much thinking and feeling. We were signing off on all of our tax forms the other day and beside my name, in all the little boxes and lines was 'homemaker.' Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a homemaker and I wouldn't have it any other way, but something about the way it was listed there startled me and made me feel the need to grab a pen and start making notes beside it like, 'I do have a college degree!'...'Sometimes I work 20+ hrs. a week OUTSIDE the home in addition to being just a homemaker!'...'do you have any idea how hard it is to be a homemaker'...and other things like that. Ha! Maybe it was because I was wrapping up a very long season with work or maybe it was because it was listed right next to Scott's name, and his occupation is a Geospatial Intelligence Analyst (See what I mean?? HOMEMAKER listed next to that can make anyone feel the need to jump in and defend their education and intelligence!-ha!), but whatever it was, it initally got a rise out of me. Or, maybe it's because about 50% of the people I meet think it's super that I stay home with the girls, they wish they could, etc. but the other 50% will say something like, 'oh...you just stay home with your kids!?' Yeah, I just stay home with the kids, twiddling me thumbs and eating bon-bons while they run around with no guidance, no instruction, no activities...the kids magically prepare all their own meals, get themselves ready, the house magically cleans itself, all appointments magically get made on their own, the car magically drives itself all over creation running errands and getting things done, the laundry magically does itself, too (one day someone is going to catch me on a bad day and some poor person is going to get an ear full-ha!)...and then I feel the need to add that I also work...most of the time in the evenings and weekends, because we have no family here to help with our kids or give us a little break every now and then, and if I do anything without the girls, it has to be when Scott is not working.

But, after all of that went through my mind :), I started thinking about what a homemaker really is and how yes....I am proud of being 'just a homemaker' and everyone should be jealous! ha! ;) Next to God, family and friends...home is the most important thing to me...and, how God, family and friends are involved in a person's life, is what makes a place a HOME...so homemaker is suddenly sounding better and better. So, who has 2 thumbs and is a homemaker....THIS GIRL! haha! This girl right here gets to be with her kids during all of their firsts, this girl gets to teach her kids all of the little lessons as well as the big lessons, she gets to go to all of her kids activities, she gets to volunteer for all the field trips, to be the room mom, to plan the fundraisers, to host the parties, to coach the teams, she gets to take her kids to school and all of their other activities and pick them up, she gets to be the one who is always there when they are sad, excited, happy and yes, even mad...often times at her! ha! This girl gets to run her household and make all the plans and make sure things are done, people are where they need to go and gets all all the hugs! :) So, here's to all the homemakers! haha!...(but, don't forget I do have a college degree and I am not just sitting at home (although some days I wish I was-ha!) ;)

Family Photos by Letography!

In October, Leslie of Letography, took family pics for us while we were home visiting (told you I have a TON of catching up to do! :) They all turned out great, and she also took the cutest pics of the girls in their tu-tus, but here are some of the family ones! :)

Thanks, so much again, Leslie! We love them so much! The house is covered in them. We will have to set up something this fall, too! :)

Please enjoy your sneek-peek!

I promise....

That I will play catch up on the blog THIS WEEK and add more cute photos like this of the girls!! :) Tuesday is possibly the last game of the season (insert me doing the happy dance here), and with that will come endless amounts of time that I have not had for the last 4months. I still haven't blogged Christmas! WHAT!? And, I have about 3 years worth of blogs to slurp into yearbooks (which is another thing that is high on my to-do list).

All is well around here...everyone else's blogs are so exciting these days...new babies, new pregnancies, new jobs, new loves, big moves...and, then there is us, nothing new to report....haha! Luckily the girls are entertaining and keep the attention of most of you readers! :)

Until later...I know the anticipation of our Christmas celebrations just have you on the edge of your seats! ha! Be patient, folks....I will start my blog catch-up marathon tonight...maybe! ;)

What do you do when you are ICED in...

Literally, iced in your home!?


And, out of your car...with no where to go....

Lots of working out!

Pretend it's warm and pack for a beach vacation!

Challenge one another to Feats of Strength!

More stretching and exercising!

A whole lot of going CRAZY!

Little bit of relaxing! (I know that looks like Abby, but look closely...that's Liv. They look more and more alike all the time!)
And, just enjoy the mini-vacation that Mother Nature provided! :)

So, Winter Storm 2011 hit the midwest. It didn't end up being as bad as originally predicted (we only ended up with a few inches of snow on top of the ice instead of the 12-20 that they first said-haha!) but it still was bad enough to keep Scott (and everyone else in the bi-state) home from work for a few days and the kids are on Day 4 of no school (it's already cancelled for tomorrow, too). I am happy to report that Scott went to work today, the girls and I ventured out to grab lunch and I even held an optional practice for my squads today (and, almost every girl was there...they had cabin fever so bad...I've never seen them so happy to be at practice-ha). We have had a lot of fun. It was just what I needed during these busy months of basketball season. The only bad thing was Abby ended up getting sick. Tuesday night she woke up with one of her scary high fevers. I panicked because we were covered in ice at that point, the wind was blowing like crazy and I just knew we were going to lose power (thankfully, we only did for a couple of hours Tuesday morning), and I knew she needed to see a doctor. Wednesday I started calling the doctor's office @ 8am, but of course they were running on delay because of the weather. I sent Scott out to see if he thought it was even possible for them to make it out. He worked on the drive way for a while and thought they could make it to the main roads safely, if he used caution. I finally got an answer around 9:30 and they got Abby in right away (because we were the only idiots out on the roads-ha!). She has croup and is still feeling pretty puny, but she has meds/treatment now and will hopefully bounce back soon. It was funny because Wednesday night we had Abby laying around sick, something I ate didn't settle well and I ended up puking and Scott slipped on the steps on the back porch and hit his head and was walking around with an ice pack on his head....we were a MESS! haha! I believe it was then that Scott decided that, no matter what, he was going to work today! ha! I am seeing posts on Facebook and talking to my friends and most of them are losing their minds, but I haven't hit that stage yet...of course they are calling for more snow on Sunday, so stay tuned! haha!