The Occasional Woes of Home-Ownership

Well, our laundry line flooded, and it was no fun...no fun at all...I have no pictures to prove it, but trust me, it wasn't fun...I was home last Saturday night watching a movie, and Andy was coming home from the Temple, when I heard rushing water in the hallway...3 inches of water everywhere...no fun...my parents came to my house at midnight with a wet vac and we went to work, but I still spent my Sabbath pulling up the carpet and tearing out the padding underneath...no fun. I took a steak knife to the carpet at each end of the hallway, cut it, and simply pulled it up and took it outside to dry...now we need to find someone to lay down new padding and re-install, as well as rehang the doors to the laundry closet and food storage closet...no fun...oh well...

Here's what else we've been doing...

We've had such NICE weather and have been out in the yard a lot...the girls rode their bikes in the front while I pruned rose bushes...this was my first attempt at putting Kate's hair in pig tails--I know it's messy, but honestly I didn't spend very much time doing it, knowing that it wouldn't last long...surprisingly, it lasted about an hour...long enough for Andy to come home and see...

There's the new brick walkway and porch...


My baby's got skills...we might need to do a fist-extraction-intervention if he's successful at this maneuver...
I helped organize a baby shower for Allison last weekend, and we managed to squeeze 60+ people into my mom's house...it took Allison FOREVER to open all the presents, but she's ready! Here's our group from BYU--me, Val, Kerri and Allison
Lauren picks out her clothes every night for the next day...then she comes into my room every morning about 6:30, totally dressed and ready to go for the day...she is a 100% morning person--didn't get that from me...I had to laugh this night because she had them all laid out (usually they're just in a pile)
Charlie's an EASY smile--you don't have to pull it out of him...the red spot on his forehead in all these picture is where I gouged him last week--Ouch

He's still gagging on his phlegm a little these days--yum...still makes him throw-up...I walked out of the room, and walked back in to find this...grossIt rained a lot this past week, so the girls put on the rain gear and had a blast splashing around with their Christmas umbrellas...
Kate--our rapper chef...she LOVES their new kitchen..."I cooking Mom...I make soup...eat Mom."
The rain did the craziest things to Kate's hair...it was so CURLY for 3 days straight...and good curly...they get their nice hair from their dad...it's certainly not from me!

Andy and I bought a package of tickets to the Pantages Theater for 2009, and our first show was Phantom of the Opera this past Saturday night--FABULOUS...I think I'm in love with the phantom...the actor was insanely good, and I was so bummed when the show was over...next up is Grease (with Taylor Hicks from AI) in March

Charlie in his little-man shirt for Church...I'm obsessed with trying to get a really good pic of all 3 kids...I should just give up...I don't think I'll ever get all 3 of them smiling and looking at the camera at the same time...

I came home to this..."look Shannon, he likes politics too..."
That's it for us...I was walking on the treadmill this afternoon when Andy pounded on the door...he was holding a screaming, bloody Kate...she had been standing on the seat of her big-wheel and fell and smashed her face into the cement...I was so terrified that she had knocked her teeth out...her nose and mouth were so bloody...after bribing with candy, she finally let me wiggle her teeth, and luckily they're still intact...she'll have a bruised face tomorrow...her lip was already fat and purple...the joys of kids...