Cold and Heat

It's getting cold.  We had snow on Halloween!  I heard an "old wives' tale" that the date of the first snow is the number of snows predicted for the winter...I hope we don't have 31 snows!  I've never heard that particular tale before, so I think someone just made it up and started spreading it when we got our first snow on the 31st.  Haha.

Our furnace drowned along with the water heater in the flood last May. We had a new water heater installed mid-May.  In August, we had to replace the dishwasher. In October, we had the house re-plumbed so we could run the water appliances better.  Since it was spring when we had the flood, and getting warmer, we decided we needed to wait on replacing the furnace since we had all these other expenses to cover--not to mention the cost of sending a kid to college!  So, here it is snowing and getting really cold in October, and we not only don't have a furnace, but we now have no way to pay for it...

We did get a little space heater, but even cranked all the way to 86 degrees, it doesn't do a lot when it's really cold out.

25 degrees on November 1!

It was so cold it felt like Christmas, so Sylvia and I put up the tree and Christmas decorations on November 9!

I saw a cute new cowl pattern and whipped this up to keep warm too.

On November 11, Hermes arrived (along with more snow!) to install our new furnace.  However, the weather continued to worsen throughout the morning, and they weren't able to get the furnace delivered!  They took apart our old furnace and did as much preparation for installation as they could, but left early in the afternoon to allow time to travel slowly back to their shop.  

Sylvia and Caeden were asked to take a nice picture for me to send to Annah, and they went for the awkward family photo version...

It was very cold in our house the past couple weeks.  We are thankful for electric blankets!  Jeremy even got out his fleece pajama pants and robe!

It was 50 degrees in our house, because the windchills were below zero outside...

Our friends the Ramirez fam loaned us a couple more space heaters.  It was 54 inside when the Hermes guys arrived today to finish the job.  

We now have a nice Trane furnace installed sideways and suspended 4 feet above ground.  So, if/when we have another basement flood, it should be safe.  They finished around noon today, and walked me through the thermostat and controls.  

By 1:30 it was back up to 68 degrees in the house, and I could teach piano lessons.

We are all thankful for heat.  It has been a very difficult 6 months for our family, financially, and emotionally.  While we are in a yucky spot right now, and that causes a lot of stress and worry for us, we are thankful that we were able to have access to the credit needed to have the furnace installed.  It's not something we could go without any longer.  We thank God for his provision for our family, and continue to trust Him.  

New pipes

After we had our new tankless water heater installed when our other one was destroyed in the flood back in May, we started having trouble with our appliances (dishwasher and washing machine) not functioning properly. We had to get a new dishwasher in July because it wasn't draining properly.  And I have been taking all our laundry to the laundromat since June because the washer kept kicking out a code saying it wasn't getting enough water and wouldn't finish a load.  

Last week we had 2 plumbers here all day removing all the tiny old corroded galvanized pipes and installing brand new bigger blue and red pex piping, removing the dead water softener that's been here probably longer than I've been alive and never worked since we've lived here and installing a place for a new one when we can afford it, and putting in a whole house filter.  It was a very expensive project, and we will have to have them back to put in a new spigot outside and plumb the upstairs bathroom whenever we get around to renovating that.  But, we now have water pressure like we've not had in 18 years, hot water with no limits, and the water heater doesn't overheat and shut off or ever run out of hot water!

However, the washing machine was still not working.  I spent half an hour on the phone with Samsung as soon as the plumbers left, and they walked me through running the recalibration cycle.  But that still didn't work.  They said my washer is out of warranty, so I called the place we bought it from.  They told me the best news I've heard all year...our washer is still under warranty with them!  They brought out a part today and replaced it and now the washer works again.  I have never been so excited to do laundry in my own home.  

Yesterday was a busy Saturday, with all of us going in different directions.  Jeremy rented a truck from Menard's and picked up our new stove from Tracie's house!  Tom took such good care of it, that it seems brand new to us.  It's a lot like our old one that we bought 18 years ago this weekend when we moved into our first house in Reynoldsburg, and I'd love it if it lasts that long for us.  Haha.  Seriously, I am so grateful to have this stove!!!  

The frustrating part of the day was the fact that even though Jeremy checked on the recycling center's website this morning, it was not open when he showed up with a rented truck full of dead appliances to recycle.  So, he had to drive the appliances back home and unload them and then was charged more for the truck rental because it took so long to make an extra trip back home!  Grr!  And, now we have a bunch of dead appliances in our backyard that need recycled!  The garage is clean and spacious now though!  Ha!

Annah went with Ryan's family to the ISU game last night!  

Jeremy took Sylvia in to town to get a 3-prong cord for the oven, and she drove in Bloomington for the first time!

Some of our neighbors to the west had a big Labor Day party last evening with the most tone-deaf loud karaoke I've ever experienced.  It seriously made my stomach upset.  It was everything from screamo heavy metal, to screaming rap, to 70's ballads, and lots of really out of tune country.  It was horrible, but thankfully it didn't last late into the night.

Today we went to church.  The kids had auditions for Steadfast Band.  These two played Xbox together for a little bit tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day!

As usual, my mom was on the ball with Valentine's Day and sent the kids a cute handmade Valentine from Arizona.  They love the fact that she keeps the tradition of sending them a valentine, and think it is fun to open!

 This year, Gram made them a valentine of themselves! So cute!

Thank you Gram and Krampa!  We love you!

I supposed Valentine's Day/week wasn't very "romantic" around here.  We have been running to all kinds of wrestling meets, keeping up on music lessons and practicing, homework, sleep, and other priorities. And, last week, we had a septic clog that kept us without use of a toilet in the house for 3 days...at the same time that our washing machine broke.  We tried everything we could to try to fix the septic clog on our own, but didn't have time to rent the equipment needed to do it.  So, between having the tank pumped and paying septic plumbers to get the job done, that was a fun time. And when the total to fix the washer came in over $400, we decided to get a new one.  Jeremy and I scrambled to a few places on Sunday afternoon to look at washers, and he chose one that was delivered yesterday.  He and Caeden got it to the basement, and Jeremy hooked it all up.  We spent almost an hour last night shining a flashlight through the lid, watching it wash the first load.  So romantic, we had to laugh at ourselves!

It is a nice Samsung washer, and I'm pretty sure it's smarter than I am.

One of the features I wanted (besides it not breaking twice in the first 4 years we have it--We got the 5-year service plan warranty!) was the ability to pre-soak items.  This not only has a pre-soak cycle, it it has a sink built in the top!  You know you're a grown-up when you're excited about something like that, I guess!

I did make the kids pink heart-shaped almond-flavored pancakes for breakfast today!  I guess maybe we are not always great at showing the love on forced holidays, but we do love each other around here!

She was a fine 'fridge for a while...

We've been so glad to have this refrigerator that my parents gave us probably about 10 years ago.  It was probably 15 years old when they gave it to us, but was so much nicer than what we had when we moved into the house.  It has lived a good long life!  

For the past couple months though, it has steadily collected more water in the bottom of it.  About 1/2 inch gathers under the fruit and vegetable bins each day and spills out when we open it.  And, it hasn't been keeping cold enough.  I've been having to throw out more and more spoiled foods all the time.

So, we knew the day was approaching when we'd need a new 'fridge.  Today was the day!  Jeremy has been researching, and ordered our new one when he found it on sale Wednesday.  She's pretty and shiny and new, and most of all cold and dry inside!  We are thankful.

The Red Oak

Ahhh, I LOVE having my husband off work this week!  

This morning, Jeremy worked on getting the new washer and dryer hooked up.  

I spent a little time sewing (I know, so unlike me!) on the stage skirting for church.  I'm almost done.  I like sewing, but I am definitely not good at it (because I so rarely do it).  So, if I get this completed, I will be very glad if it looks nice!

Jeremy needed a couple plumbing elbows to get the washer competely hooked up, so we headed over to ACE Hardware in LeRoy.  The sky was looking quite ominous!

Fortunately, ACE didn't have what he needed, so we had to go into Bloomington--and right at lunchtime.  Jeremy took me to a tiny little restaurant downtown that he'd been to for a coworker's going-away a few weeks ago--The Red Oak.  I was immediately in love with this place.

Ah, man!  He does this every time I point a camera at him!!!!

Haha, isn't he funny?!

The Red Oak serves "old fashioned comfort food."  

I had a frikadeller!  I would have loved anything on the menu, but frikadeller is just fun to say!  And it's very unique!  

Here's the menu description: 

A Frikadeller is a Hot SMÖRGÅS Sandwich of Scandinavian meatloaf topped with  dill sauce, mayo-mustard, pickled beets and cucumber.  I liked it!

We also had to have pie, according to Jeremy.  I order the sour cream apple, which was served warm and was very yummy.  Jeremy had the quad berry, which was absolutely amazing.  

It is the cutest little place...

It started raining as we arrived, and by the time we left it was a heavy downpour with lightning.  We stood outside and enjoyed watching the rain and admired the art and architecture of this section of downtown Bloomington before we finally made a break for the car. 

We stopped at Lowe's on the way out of town and Jeremy picked up the supplies he needed.  Then we went home and took naps until the kids came home...Rainy days are perfect for that, and we haven't had one in a long while!

Back to School 2012-2013

Here goes!!  2nd, 4th, and 6th grade!!

Our wonderful bus driver, Vickie, shouted out her window to us, "SHE'S IN JUNIOR HIGH NOW!?!" and said she couldn't believe it when she looked at her list this morning!  She said, "What happened!?!?"  At least I'm not the only one in shock!  ;)

Jeremy and I went to town to look at a dryer we'd seen at Home Depot the other day.  They were having a big appliance clearance sale, and had some really great deals.  We found 2 dryers we liked, and also a washer that was great deal we couldn't pass up.  But, we needed to measure the space they were going to have to fit through at the top of our basement stairs, so we went back home to do that.  Then we went back to town and purchased the washer and dryer.  We loaded the dryer into the back of the Aztek, along with some concrete and a new dryer vent hose.  Then we decided we had to have an appliance dolly, so drove across the way to Menard's to get one of those.  We arrived back home just as it was time for the bus...

They all came home happy!  We're so glad our kids love school!!!

The kids were happy to answer all kinds of detail questions about their half day.  Annah said that everyone was really quite and listened well in class, and that if it was going to be that quiet all the time, junior high is "going to be Awesome!!"  ;)  We can only hope...

Jeremy carried our two dead dryers and two dead washers up from the basement, through the kitchen and living room, down the front porch stairs, around the house and down the driveway into the garage! He asked for my help getting them up the basement stairs with the appliance dolly, but I'm not sure it really made a bit of difference that I was there--and not too terribly much that we had the dolly, honestly!  He is so strong!!  It was really quite an impressive thing to see him lifting those machines (especially the one washing machine that has a heavy porcelain tub!) and carrying them!  Whew!  It was a bit easier to take the new ones in, but doors still had to come off the house, and I'm sure he will sleep well tonight after all that lifting and sweating!

While Jeremy went back to town for a third time today, the kids and I had a picnic in the front yard.  The basement door was leaning up against the kitchen door to the back porch, and I didn't want the kids knocking it over...hence eating outside.  

This is about 10 seconds of Caeden, during our supper...normal dinner activity for him--inside or out.  The boy just can never be still.

Ah, life!  We love living it.

Saturday Stuff

Last evening, I went to see our high school's spring musical, Zombie Prom.  It was far from appropriate for children, so I went alone and got to sit with some adult teacher friends.  The performance was entertaining, and the kids performing were obviously having fun.  I enjoyed getting to see "Mr. H", our former music and choir teacher, who came back to support the students and current directors in their performance.  

Caeden was coloring some Lego action figure coloring pages this morning, and upon the mention of Mr. H, he wanted to send this one to him, as he is a big spiderman fan.  We texted him this picture instead.

We had nothing scheduled on our calendar for today, ahhhhh!  We decided to head to town to take care of a couple errands.  First we stopped by Morris Tick to drop off our poor microwave that died about a month ago.

We were close to Schooners, so Jeremy took us there for lunch.  We all tried the buffalo wings.  Annah and Sylvia really liked them, Caeden thought they were much too hot and only had one bite.  I managed to eat my first one since trying them at Duff's in Buffalo, New York about 16 years ago and getting sick to my stomach (not because of anything I ate) and having to leave Chapel Choir Tour early.  Not sure I conquered my mental block against buffalo wings yet though.  

Jeremy and Caeden played the golf video game while we were trying to order and wait for our food.

The kids got to have pop for a treat.

After lunch, we stopped quickly at Sears and didn't find what we were looking for.  Then we stopped at Sam's Club and renewed our membership and bought a couple things.

Back at home, the girls played upstairs and both came up with interesting hairstyles.

We put the microwave we bought at Sam's Club in its new spot.  We did pretty well without one for the past few weeks, but I am really very glad and grateful to have a new one!

For supper, I made cheesy potato soup.  We will have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow too.  There was no complaining, and even some raving, so it must be a recipe my family approves of fairly well.

1 lb. ground beef

1 T. dried minced onion

2 boxes au gratin potatoes

1/2 large brick of Velveeta

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can green chiles

milk

Brown ground beef with minced onions in large soup pot.  Prepare au gratin potatoes in pot (I leave the meat in with.) as directed on box.  Add tomatoes and chiles (don't drain!) or a can or 2 of Ro-Tel.  Cube and add Velveeta and stir until melted.  (I usually use store brand everything.)  Add milk or cream to desired consistency.  (This time I used skim milk, but I have used fat free half and half when I had it on hand.)  Sometimes I add corn, but I forgot this time.  It's good either way
!

This evening we all snuggled up in the living room and watched one of our very, very favorite movies--The Prince of Egypt.  No matter how many times we watch it, we still love it--the story of God's performing miracles, using imperfect people to achieve his plan, and His rescuing his people.  We love the music and the beautiful animation too.  It's just a wonderful movie!