Goodbye January

Poor Cooper is sick again!  And it's time for us to go home.  The demo is complete which means the giant fans are gone now so even though it's still a work zone, it's time.  My kiddos need their own beds again.  I think it will be better for everyone except me.  I can tell I'll just be stressed!  But I'll just take one mess at a time.  And take care of my kiddos even before I tackle any messes.

I'm so glad January is ending.  It's been quite the month.

It started off with no power.
Then Cooper got sick and puked all day.  He was sick for three days.
Madeline got sick and missed school.
I got sick for a week.
Todd got sick.
Oliver got sick for a week.
Ethan found out he has allergies.  His doctor told him he's allergic to Washington.
Todd's truck broke down multiple times (like 3 or 4 or 5?  I lost count, but all different reasons that weren't related) and we spent thousands of dollars fixing it.
The power went out again for another 16 hours.
Then the toilet flooded into the air vent causing damage in upstairs bathroom, Madeline's room, hall, piano room, pantry, 1/2 bath, and basement family room.
My van got hit.
And just today Cooper is sick again.  He puked five times in the first five hours and three more since.

Pretty neat list don't you think?!  I need a nap.  And a vacation.  Oh well.  I'll just go home instead.

Grandpa and Nana's House

He was sitting in the tub just laughing and playing with me and being as cute as ever, and I thought that if something has to happen to me, I'd take a destroyed house over some disaster with my children any day of the week.  I'm so grateful they are safe and happy.  And I'm grateful that this little person who doesn't have a care in the world can rub a little sunshine into my life!

 One thing I have learned is that my stress level goes down dramatically when I'm at Todd's parent's house.  I guess it's just the way they are, and I'm grateful for it more than ever lately.

I don't have any pictures of Madeline, mostly because she was upstairs crafting with Nana the whole time.  It was like her dream come true.  Oliver loved painting too.

 And I had a grand time making Yorkshire puddings with Randy.

 Yum!!

Ethan does his fair share of reading like always

 But he also helped his brothers make some awesome paper airplanes!

I know things would be so much harder right now if we didn't have such a wonderful place to stay!

Everything is a Mess

The night before Madeline's birthday, I went upstairs to get jammies for the little boys and found water pouring out of the toilet in the hall bathroom.  The rugs and towels on the floor were soaked and it was soaking into the carpet in the hall.  Of course, Todd was working late and not home.  I turned the water to the toilet off and spent the next two hours with buckets and rags, sopping and disinfecting and plunging and cringing at the grossness of what had occurred.  The carpet didn't feel that wet, and I used carpet cleaner and a fan and thought I could put it all behind me.

That is, until I went downstairs the morning of Madeline's birthday to get the cake plate and saw this:

 A giant bulge full of toilet water two floor down...and then Cooper found another in the ceiling

 Dripping onto the carpet.  And we found a path of destruction going through the middle of our entire house.  All three floors.    I was overwhelmed to say the least and didn't really have any idea what would happen.

 But after Todd called insurance and a restoration company, I began to see that my world might be a bit upside down for awhile.  And yep, it totally is.  Water damage is bad.  But toilet water damage is really bad...now we are staying with Gpa and Nana while our house is getting torn apart.  Nothing that got wet can be salvaged because it was wet with sewage water.  I just keep shuttering...here is all our carpet, only a year and a half old...

 Madeline's room...she was pretty sad to find out on her birthday that her room was getting torn apart.

 hall

 basement

 piano room

 1/2 bath ceiling

 pantry

 basement

 And then our 2017 van got hit and the bumper is all dented...yep, this month is awesome.

Madeline's Birthday to Remember

Madeline's 10th Birthday will always certainly be a memorable one.  My sweet darling didn't get the birthday or her dreams, but I hope she felt loved and special at least a little bit during the madness.  Our house is currently getting torn apart and I'm so grateful for my in-laws (once again!) for letting us move in with them.  But more about that later.  Here are some happy pictures from Madeline's birthday.

She did get her dream breakfast.  A white chocolate raspberry scone and carrots!  lol.  Love this girl.

 The sky celebrated in the early morning hours with streaks of pink.

 I somehow managed to make and decorate a lovely cake for her.  Caramel Chocolate.

 We celebrated at Gpa and Nana's house.

 And we love her so much!

Happy Birthday Madeline!

Happy Birthday Madeline Jean!  She was always the sweetest cutie pie.

 And today she is 10.  My girl is 10!  I remember turning 10.  CRAZY!

She is creative and loving and beautiful inside and out.  She's hardworking and all three of her brothers love her to pieces.  She just might be all three of their favorites!  I'm so grateful she's my girl.  I couldn't have a better one.

Happy Birthday Madeline!

Just Stuff

A new dress for Madeline made by Mimi

 Russian piping tips make it easy to have fancy flower cupcakes!

 Matching

 He always drinks milk with it tilted to the left, and often standing in the middle of the floor

 Girl's Night

 Ethan's artwork was selected to be displayed in this year's Whatcomics Contest.  Grades 6-12 in the county submitted art to the libraries.  Those chosen are printed in a little book and displayed in the Lynden Library!  Nice work Ethan.

 Beautiful sunset

 Kugelhopf - every time I watch The Great British Baking Show I'm inspired to try something new.

 Fruit Batteries for the Science Fair

Yep, power out again...

I'm always in the car.  Sitting in school pick-up lines.  Three kids in three different schools with three different start/end times.  My life is in the car, but my dream life has a driver!

 I declared Oliver fully potty trained this week and celebrated by ditching the diaper bag in favor of this beauty.  I may or may not have an obsession with Kate Spade.  So happy I'm done with diapers!!!!

2018 Family Theme

Last year, our family theme was Choose Kindness.  It was a good theme for us, but I didn't feel like it was as well executed as it could have been.  So this year, we will have a focus each month to make the theme more meaningful.  I hope it makes a difference!

In 2018, our theme is Live After the Manner of Happiness!  The best way to feel and be happy is to do what happy people do.  Each month, we will focus on different ways to live after the manner of happiness.  I felt like this was the right theme for me and I hope for my family too!  No matter how hard things are, you can always live in such a way that invites happiness into your life.  January's focus is the first and most important way to live after the manner of happiness.

If my kids can even just begin to have a testimony of this, I will feel I have succeeded.  2018, here we come!