The Art of Plumbing

Thursday Timmy and I went shopping and to run a few errands that needed to be taken care of (mostly at Sam's Club).  As I was getting ready, Timmy decided he was going to be a big boy and brush his teeth without any help from Mommy.  I heard the water turn on and he was talking to himself (as he is apt to do) and then heard him say "Help, Mommy, help!".  Since he had only been brushing his teeth, I didn't think it was a big deal and walked into the bathroom to help him finish with his teeth.  Only when I got into the bathroom I didn't see Timmy's toothbrush.  Yeah, he dropped his toothbrush down the drain and was trying to get it back.  Our drain doesn't have a cover but this had never been a problem before...clearly it's something we'll need to deal with now.

I tried to get the toothbrush out but was unable (and Timmy, for his part, tried to be very helpful) and we eventually just left to run the errands and hopefully let the water drain from the sink.  We got home and the water had indeed drained (thank goodness).  I looked up how to unclog a drain (just in case it somehow got lodged differently than I thought) and then proceeded to take the pipes to the sink apart and unclog the drain.  It actually wasn't too hard and I was really proud of myself.  

Ahh life with a kid!  It was actually really funny and I thought it was sweet how much Timmy tried to help with it all.  

Happy Anniversary

Happy 5th Anniversary to Eric and Amy!  It was so great to see you guys over Christmas and to keep in touch with Facebook.  I hope that your next 5 years are as great as the first five!  Congratulations!

Happy 5th Anniversary to Nate and Gretchen!  I hope that you guys are doing well and that you realize what a blessing you are to each other and those around you.  Congratulations on five years!

(sorry, I don't have any wedding pictures from either on my computer...I'll look and see if I can find some and update).

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 5th anniversary to Nate and Gretchen!  They are friends from high school and Erik and I made the trip out to NE for their wedding (right before they moved to NV).  I hope that you take a chance to remember how truly special each of you are to each other.  Congratulations!

(picture taken from Nate's Facebook pictures)

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 5th anniversary to Eric and Amy!  I've known them both since my freshman year of college and they are high school sweethearts.  I hope that you had a great day!  

(picture taken from Amy's Facebook pictures)

Zoo Pictures

Since Timmy was such a good boy on both trips this weekend (down and back) and since we both took off Tuesday to recover, we decided to take him to the zoo.  It was pretty hot, but no more hot than it had been over the weekend.  Last weekend I had bought Timmy a visor at the zoo for $3 and was really hoping Timmy would use it.  No such luck!  He is not a fan of hats or sunglasses but I know that he needs to use one or the other to protect his eyes from the sun.  

So yesterday when we got to the zoo, Erik put on his visor and suddenly Timmy couldn't wait to wear his own.  Whatever works!  He did still take it off several times but was always willing to have it put back on (we had some troubles getting the correct size because he didn't want to stand still long enough for us to size it on his head).  Here are a few pictures.  Enjoy!

Timmy and Mommy in their visors

Timmy and Daddy playing in the misters

Timmy and Daddy in their visors.  Timmy is actually yelling cheese!

Timmy and Daddy feeding the goats

Joplin

Last week we took off on Friday to head to Joplin.  We were going to help my parents unload the moving trucks and unpack.  After a 12.5 hour drive that included 4 stops (1 breakfast stop, 1 complete tank fill-up with lunch, 1 partial tank fill-up, and 1 time to let Timmy walk around), getting caught in a rain storm that only allowed us to go 35 mph, and then we were stuck behind a wide load truck through the hills past St. Louis.  Eventually we were able to get there, get our stuff inside, and let both the boys run around the backyard.  Timmy was being shy with everyone until we went to dinner at Chick-fil-A when Paul and Katie came in the car with us, then he was fine with them.  Go figure.  Anyway, my parents were supposed to get in to town on Friday night but ended up not having everything work out the way it was supposed to.

Saturday morning we got up, did some unpacking in the kitchen, and then headed out to breakfast.  We went to the Waffle House and Tim rode with us this time...and suddenly Timmy wasn't afraid of him either.  Tim even helped Timmy eat his breakfast.  After that we went back to the house while Paul and Katie went to run some errands.  After we got back from breakfast the president of the congregation came over with some coolers filled with water and Gatorade for when Mom and Dad got there with the other moving truck.  We talked to him for a while with the boys running around, and then the DCE came over and introduced himself too.  Seems like everyone was working at the church/school getting ready for the installation on Sunday.  Everyone was very nice and it was great to be able to meet some of the people that my parents will be interacting with on a regular basis.  Every person we met was really excited for Dad to be there and to see where the congregation would go.  After the president of the congregation and the DCE left, Erik took the boys inside to nap and I continued to unpack in the kitchen.  With all the boys asleep (including Erik and Tim--who was sick the entire time, coughing up stuff and being a little miserable in general but still helping)  it was nice to be able to focus on one aspect and listen to the music I wanted to...until the doorbell rang.  It was the president of the congregation's wife brining over some food for dinner (4 whole chickens!, plates and silverware, bread, watermelon, and some spread for the bread--ha, that rhymes!).  Apparently they wanted to bring over lunch but we were too quick with getting out of the house.  Oh well.  After a little bit the DCE's mother-in-law brought over some fruit salad and then another member of the altar guild (I think that's who was bringing us the food...) brought over a salad and dressings.  Everyone was looking for an update from Mom and Dad and we just kept telling them that they were going to get there later in the night.

Mom and Dad did eventually get to Joplin...at about 10:30 on Saturday night.  They got there just after Erik returned from a walk with Bud.  We didn't do any unloading of the truck then, but just hung out and watched Timmy play with his toys.  Yeah, we let Timmy stay up as late as he wanted on the trip, mostly because things just weren't unpacked and organized yet.  We all enjoyed watching Timmy play with the Fischer Price toys I used to play with and my brother got particular joy out of watching him place certain characters places in the car.  It was amusing to say the least.

Sunday morning my dad headed off to the late service while the rest of us hung out, got ready, and did more unpacking of boxes.  At 1:45 we headed across the soccer field to the church (yup, my dad can walk to work now instead of driving for 30 minutes) to the installation service.  Timmy did pretty well, there were a few moments where he was fussy, but overall he did well.  He wanted to go blow out the candles at the front of the church (no) and then wanted to go sit by Grandpa in the middle of the aisle (no again).  It was a nice service and then we were able to get some family pictures, which I think is really nice.  After that we went over to the school gym for a reception which was really nice.  There was so much food!  I found out that the person in charge of planning the reception used to be a caterer which explains a lot.  They even had some gluten-free crackers for Dad.  It was great!  After the reception we headed home to unload the van and some of the congregation, and a few neighbors, came over to help which made quick work of it.  Sarah and Chuck, my dad's friend's oldest daughter and her husband, stopped by with their kids and Timmy was able to play with another kid for a while, which was nice.  I'm sure Mom and Dad enjoyed being able to see their grandson play with their best friends' grandson just like we used to play together as kids.  

Sunday night was filled with more unpacking.  Tim headed off not too long after the trucks were unloaded to visit friends in Nebraska before heading home to Las Vegas.  It was great to see him and I'm glad that he made the effort to be there for Mom and Dad.  I know it meant a lot to them for us all to be there (even though they wouldn't have forced the issue at all).  After some more unpacking we decided to get some extra stuff for dinner (other than just the chicken) and while we were gone Timmy crashed.  We came home to find Timmy in bed and he slept most of the night too.  Clearly he had a long day.  =)

Monday I was hoping to take off by 9 or 10 but that just didn't happen.  It was nice to be able to spend some more time with my family though, even if it meant being on the road so much later.  We eventually headed out around 1 and after stopping for some food, we got to St. Louis around 6--which is what I was hoping for, to hit the tail end of rush hour if we hit it at all.  We stopped once more for gas and dinner and then just powered through until we got home.  We were able to get home at about 1:15 and just left everything in the car to get on Tuesday.  Timmy did really well and proved himself to be quite the little traveler.  This gives me hope for doing other trips later down the road.

Phew!  I think that's a long enough post!  Here are a few pictures from the installation.  Enjoy!

 

The sign for the church welcoming both of my parents

Mom and Dad after the installation service

The whole fam-damily

The parents with their kids

Timmy working on a future profession?  "Praise the Lord!"

60th Anniversary Party...

Here are a few pictures from my grandparents 60th anniversary party.  I don't have any of the family pictures taken because I didn't want to throw another camera into the mix (there were already at least 6).  I'll see if I can get some and then post them here.  Enjoy the few below.

Timmy "borrowing" the flag from the boy statue...until he accidentally ripped it off the pole

The cake and some flowers from my great-aunt Evie in FL

Playing in the backyard

Playing bocce ball with Daddy

Stress

Today I knew was going to be busy (how can it not be, we're leaving tomorrow!) but I tried to plan some errands around doing something fun with Timmy so that the day wasn't all about what had to get done and not about him at all.  So this was my plan: go to Hallmark, go to the zoo, get the oil changed on the car, come home and put Timmy down for a nap.  Sounds like a decent plan, right?

It all went according to plan until I went to get my oil changed.  They were doing some of the basic once-over of the car and filling up my tires when they said "do you know you've got a nail in your tire and it's basically flat?"  Umm...no, I didn't know that.  They were able to give me a quick oil change, and a referral to a tire place that patches tires for cheap (yeah, I know I can buy a kit but I'm driving to MO tomorrow and I've got a kid, I'll take the easier route, thanks!).  So I text message Erik (trying to be slick because they don't want you to use cell phones) and he calls because he doesn't quite understand what my text message said.  Explained things to him and had him call the tire place which said they could get me in right away.  It was great!  Not only did I get my oil changed, and a referral to get my tire patched, I was also able to get my tire patched for about $20 and have everything done and be home about 45 minutes after I showed up to get my oil change.  Sweet!

I am used to dealing with dealerships where it takes forever for anything to get done and they can't just be straight and honest with you.  That's a big disappointment to me but I guess just a sign of the times.  When we bought the Ion I got this maintenance package (that I would NEVER do again) where they were supposed to take care of everything for me.  Yeah, they took care of most of it but didn't fill the washer fluid (even though it was checked off as having been checked and we don't have a leak....then how come we had an empty fluid tank?), an oil change took at least an hour, and they never checked my lights like they were supposed to either.  Now we go to a cheaper oil place where they check all my lights, replace them if I want, check the fluids, top those off, and all for about $30.  Oh, and  I get a free car wash.  Now tell me why I'd go back to a dealership...

60th Anniversary Party

On Sunday we had the opportunity to celebrate my Grandma and Grandpa Mech's 60th wedding anniversary.  Their actual anniversary is June 11, the same day as Timmy's baptism birthday, but since that was a Thursday we waited until Sunday to celebrate.   The weather was great (for the day at least) and we were able to spend a lot of time outside and just hanging out.  We also had a house showing so we took Bud with us and staked him in the backyard.  We did this for a few reasons 1) my grandma doesn't allow dogs in the house because she doesn't like them; 2) it was too crowded in the house for a dog to be wandering around; 3) he had more room to hang out and was able to meet more people outside.  

It's funny to think how much has changed since their 50th anniversary.  I had just graduated from high school, my cousin Ryan was only 5/6 months old, I had never had a boyfriend, my parents lived in Nebraska...the list could go on.  Now, both Paul and I are married, I've got a kid, my uncle Don had a stroke, I have another cousin, my parents are moving from Nevada...again the list could go on.  It's so interesting to see how things change in such a short time.

You know that old saying that the more things change the more they stay the same?  This applied to the party, and all family get togethers really.  When we were little we were always outside playing and going inside just for food.  Now the adults still congregate inside or by the picnic table and we stay outside with the little kids watching them so their parents can socialize.  I know a lot of this comes more from the age differences than anything else (I think the people closest in age to Paul and I were our uncle Dan, aunt Diane, and my dad's cousin Bobby).  It's so weird to have a kid who is only a year younger than my dad's cousin's kid.  Oh well.  At least Timmy plays well with others, even if he is a little more passive than I would like (he's completely fine with kids taking things from him, well, not completely fine with it but he doesn't fight back at all).  

Well, I'm off to get things ready for Joplin.  I am hoping to leave by 6 or 7 tomorrow and that Timmy will take a nap in the car.  It should be interesting.  The last time I did a trip this long it was 5 years ago when we went to Gretchen and Nate's wedding in Nebraska.  The longest trip we've done with Timmy in the car has been to Minnesota, so we know he can make it at least that long.  Should be a fun trip though, even if we spend most of the time helping unpack.

Visit

On Tuesday after work we were blessed to be able to hang out with my friend Jenny from college.  It was great that she was willing to drive down from West Bend to spend time with us.  Timmy and Bud both did very well with Jenny, although I think Bud was looking for a little more attention from Jenny than she wanted to give.

We had a really good time.  I think Erik had wanted us to go out and do something because I don't ever go out unless it's with him, but we really enjoyed staying in.  We grilled up some burgers (on the Foreman, because I don't know how to work the grill outside) then Erik went to run a few errands and Timmy REALLY wanted to go too, so both the boys headed out.  They came back with pie from Baker's Square and some food for Bud.  I guess Timmy did really well the entire time, which is great!

In the meantime, Jenny and I hung out and got to chat and decided to play some Wii.  We debated playing Wii Sports or Mario Kart and ended up playing Super Mario Bros. 3--and getting all the way to the 4th level before we decided to call it a night.  It was so great to see her and I hope that we do this more often than once a year.  

Happy Baptism Birthday Timmy!

It's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since this date.  Timmy, I hope that you always remember that no matter how hard life gets, there is always one that is looking out for you and loves you more than you can possibly imagine.  I still can't believe that we were given charge of this little guy, to shape his life and instill values.  Timmy, we are truly blessed to be your parents!  May the faith you have today, blossom and grow in the years to come.  We love you, kiddo!

On a side note: How many of my readers remember their baptismal birthday every year?  Do you know when it is?  If so, how do you celebrate?  Thanks for your input!

The Story--Schwartz Books

When I take my lunch at work, if I leave, 'The Story' is the NPR show usually on at that time.  A few weeks ago, Dick Gordon had the story of Schwartz Books, a local bookstore in the Milwaukee community that had to close down.  I always find it interesting to hear stories about local events, places of interest, or happenings around the area, even when they are sad.  To hear the story of Schwartz Books you can listen here.  The audio should be at the bottom of the page.

Unshelved

There's a librarian comic strip that I read pretty much everyday that makes me laugh, smile, and sometimes say "I've been there".  Here are just a few delightful samples from "Unshelved".  For more go here.

Our Weekends--the Milwaukee County Zoo

Well another weekend, probably means another trip to the zoo. We went on both Saturday and Sunday (gotta love the Zoopass and not feeling horrible for only going for an hour or less). This weekend was actually the Boy Scout weekend. Each year the Boy Scouts come and have their roller derby and box car race at the zoo for everyone to watch. Timmy enjoyed watching the cars go rolling down the track and we enjoyed it too.

On Saturday, we saw the primate house (which Timmy really powers through, it's more just a passage to the snakes and fish) and were about to go to see the snakes when Erik stopped to talk to some Boy Scouts. They were really nice and had a little first aide test tent set up. You rolled a giant die and then had to discuss what you would do in that scenario. It was pretty fun. The first one was you were sitting around a campfire eating dinner when suddenly one of the older adults collapses. What do you do? Erik did a really good job answering that one. Then since I guess they weren't getting a lot of visitors (I'm really just guessing), they said they had another scenario that we would find entertaining, especially for "your little guy there"--yeah, that's how they actually referred to Timmy. It was an ATV accident where the ATV is flipped over and the rider is trapped underneath, you smell gas and the engine is warm. What do you do? The best part about this one was the demonstration. The Boy Scout put on a helmet and came racing out from behind the curtain on a little trike and then flipped himself over and had the trike sitting on top of him. Timmy just wanted to go play with the trike, but we were able to restrain him enough and actually learned what the proper recourse would be.

On Sunday we went just for a little bit because Timmy kept talking about wanting to see the moose (I think he remembered that from a Calliou episode) and I told him we could actually see a moose at the zoo. He was a little skeptical and just really wanted to see the elephants when we got there, but we were able to go see the Australian animals first by saying we'd come back and see the elephants. We saw the emu and the kangaroos but didn't go in the house so we didn't see the koalas at all. We then saw the brown bears, the sheep and went over by the moose.

The moose were actually out and walking around. I haven't seen that in a long time and not since Timmy was actually able to identify the animals. This may be more from us not going over by the moose often than anything else. Timmy was able to see both of the moose at the zoo and watched the one drink water and the other eat his lunch. It was a really good time and I'm glad we went. It's especially nice when we get to see animals that we don't see that often.

We then walked back to see the giraffes and the elephants. We got to see the elephants just in time because about 5 minutes after we got over by the elephants, they went inside to do training. I would have felt bad to say we could see the elephants outside later and then weren't able to, but it worked out. We then went to see the hippos, also a favorite, and were able to hear the one hippo "laugh". I've never actually heard that in person and it's quite the creepy sound, almost sounds like it belongs in a haunted house or something. One family had their little boy get freaked out by the sound and then proceeded to make fun of him for getting scared. Oh well.

Here are a few pictures from our Sunday trip. Enjoy!

Timmy and I by the brown bears

Both of the moose

Erik and Timmy watching the moose eat, it walked right up to the wall so Timmy was able to get a good look

My Birthday Weekend

Since I worked on both my birthday, which was a Friday, and the Saturday too, we weren't able to do anything for my birthday until Sunday. We took Timmy to the zoo and saw some different animals this time. We went and saw the flamingos, which Erik had not seen at all, and then the aviary. While Erik is not a huge fan of the aviary because of the smell, it really isn't too bad because Timmy charges through. It makes me wonder exactly what he gets out of going through some of the animal houses but he seems to enjoy it, so whatever.

Erik and Timmy watching the flamingos

Timmy and I by the Milwaukee County Zoo sign (is it sad that I never really noticed this before?)
Trying to get a picture of his Star Wars shirt

Quick Stories

Here are just a few quick stories that I thought you might enjoy.

On Thursday I put Timmy down for a nap and he was still be loud 30 minutes later.  I went to check on him and asked why he wasn't asleep and he said "I don't know, Mommy.  Why aren't YOU asleep?"  What a little stinker!  I just busted out laughing, I didn't have a reply ready at all.

After he decided that he wasn't going to nap, he thought it was a good idea to go running up and down the hall.  I thought this would tire him out but no such luck!  As he ran up and down the hall he said "I'm so fast!  I'm too fast for you Mommy!  I'm so fast!"  Sometimes he just cracks me up!