Laundry Room & Ipod!

Andy fixed my Ipod! He shaved down some needle nose pliers so they would fit into the headphone jack. Then he used a tiny drill bit to shave off sides of the piece stuck inside my ipod. This created a taller piece in the middle. He used superglue on the pliers and stuck them to the piece stuck in my ipod and it finally came out! He tried so many creative ways to get it out and his perseverance paid off!!! Last night I got to run with my ipod instead of my watch. I'm 1/2 finished with the C25K!! I plan to run in a 5K on Sept. 26. Thank you so much baby!!

Here is Andy before the door to the laundry room was cut out, you can see the outline.

Here he is with the new door in place! Just needs to be primed and painted.

In other news, I have a working washer and dryer!!! You do not know how exciting it is to be able to do laundry at home again. After 2 months of my fabulous Maw-ma and Paw-pa picking up dirty clothes, washing clothes, and folding them I know they are thankful our washer and dryer are working too! Thank you so so so much Maw and Paw. We couldn't have survived the summer without your help!! Mom, thank you so so so much too for the help you gave with our laundry as well. We appreciate you all! I plan to have you all over for dinner soon as a thank you! The dryer isn't in the laundry room yet, but just on the other side of the framed wall. So we've been doing "loads" of laundry around here and are all caught up. Yea! He keeps on working away and finding more plumbing problems as he goes. Whoever the plumber was that helped when the house was built either didn't care about the job or had no clue what he was doing. The hall and downstairs plumbing for the toilets were done incorrectly. They sloped the wrong way making the toilet have major problems with flushing etc. Thankfully Andy is fixing everything along the way. Thus causing for the project timeline to be longer- but it is all for the good of our new home!

Here is our laundry room! Still has a ways to go...imagine shelves, tile, paint, walls, etc, etc, etc!!

My ipod :(

A couple weeks ago when we went to CCH we took my ipod in the van to listen to it through the AUX outlet. When we got home I pulled out the cord and brought my ipod inside, thinking everything was fine. Well the next time I went to run I couldn't plug the headphones into my ipod. There was something in the way. Andy realized that the tip of the cord for playing it in the car had broken off in my ipod. I was so mad. He has tried several different things to try and get it out but it won't budge. So I can't use my ipod. I love my ipod and don't know what to do. My ipod was only 1 1/2 years old, the nano. I was using it for my Couch Potato to 5K Podcasts. I've had to know the podcast and just use a watch to know when to run and walk. It is so frustrating. Any suggestions??

11 Months Old!

My baby is 11 months old! I can't believe he will be ONE in 4 short weeks! Time flies! Tyler is doing so well. He is crawling and getting into everything! This boy still loves his food - though he doesn't drink out of a sippy cup. He loves to nurse and eats 3 times a day- morning, when I get home after 4, and before bed. He refuses to take a bottle before I get home. He loves to play with toys and watch his brothers. He also loves to be outside! To trim his nails I have to take him outside so he will sit still long enough! He just has two bottom teeth so maybe more soon. He is absolutely precious and a big time mama's boy! I've missed him SO much while I've been back to school - but it is fabulous to no longer be pumping on my lunch at work :) . Time to start planning his birthday party!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Ready for the first day of Kindergarten!

His daddy made him his favorite breakfast - pancakes!

Wilson had his first day of Kindergarten yesterday! He had a wonderful first day! I am so blessed to be able to take him to school with me where I work. He has a wonderful teacher and is surrounded by my fabulous co-workers who all love him already just because he is mine! Andy brought him to school so I could go early and be in my room to greet my new students. My dad came over to watch Luke and Ty so Andy wouldn't have to bring all the boys so early. Wilson did well going into his room. Andy said he was a little clingy but no tears! I saw him in the hallway a couple times and we waved and smiled at each other. It is so neat to have him at school! Then he came to my classroom at the end of the day and was very talkative and excited. I could tell that he loved his first day which is so wonderful! He chose to buy chicken nuggets for lunch and enjoyed recess and library. His second day went well also. He chose to buy his lunch again today (and tomorrow!). He rode with me to school today and again got a little clingy when I brought him to his room but he had another great day. He's been worn out in the evening but seems to love big school!

The Project Continues

Framing for the new wall to divide the laundry room/garage.

All the supply lines and what not that Andy has spent HOURS on.

New concrete from the jack hammering to cover up the new PVC pipes. Just ignore the sawdust.

So, two months ago I showed you pics of my garage with the jackhammering and rusting pipes. Then I showed you pics of the new PVC pipes in the garage floor. Well, Andy has been diligently working on The Major Project. Here are some pictures to show you the progress 2 months in! You know I haven't had a washer/dryer for 2 months, right? Well last night Andy had the washing machine hooked up. The dryer is hooked up in it's old location b/c he is still working on the electric. We were so excited to do laundry at our own house to find out that the washing machine won't complete the spin cycle. It drained the water but didn't spin the clothes dry. Nice. and WHY??? Washing machines are supposed to last forever right? Like at least 20+ years or something! We've had this one for about 8 years...

WV Guy Campout/Girl Trip

Cousins, ready to hike!
This is fun! Check out Wilson's first pack.

A great outside adventure.

Taking a break from his 10-lb pack.

Eating his trail mix! There were several pics of Luke eating his trail mix!!

Luke got to go on the guy's campout this time!

Worn Out!

A backpacker just like his daddy.

Love this picture of Ethan and Wilson hiking!

The girls who stayed back at the house!

Towards the end of July we went to Snowshoe, WV with The M. Clan. The men and kids who are potty trained went camping and the girls and non-potty trained kids (+ Lily who doesn't like backpacking!!) stayed in a nice house on Snowshoe Mountain! It was a great few days. I had fun with my sister in laws, mother in law, and Nanny. It was a nice break to only have Ty to take care of at the house. The girls played games, went for walks, got in the hot tub, made cake pops, watched a movie, stayed up late talking, and really just enjoyed being together. The men folk had a great time in the Wilderness! Enjoy the pics! We did this a couple of years ago too. You can see those posts here and here. Sorry for the delay, with back to school I've not had much time for the blog.

Another visit to CCH

For our checkup to CCH this time we took the whole family - it's not cold and flu season and we wanted to do other things while in Cincinnati. The boys were going to go to Eden Park while Ty and I were at the appointment but it was raining the whole day! So they came in and hung out in the waiting room with Andy. Ty's appointment was very uneventful, which is my opinion is a very good thing! No new information other than we don't need to go back to the hemangioma unit for 1 year! Yea! They are pleased that nothing has changed with his port wine stain (color, size) and feel that he is meeting all the developmental milestones. The main areas that need to be watched closely are with ophthamology and nuerology. We go back in November and December for each of those appointments.

After we left CCH we went to eat lunch at The Works. It's a brick oven pizza place in the building of a 100 year old fire station. I thought I had found the one I ate at with my family as a kid but alas it wasn't the same one. Maybe there is another one in Cincinnati somewhere... Then we ventured to IKEA and did some shopping for about an hour. The big boys were willing to go in the play area! Wilson agreed after Luke talked him into it so that gave Andy and I 1 hour with only Tyler to shop. We picked up a few small things- veggie peeler, new cutting board, step stool for the boys, a new pillow for Andy, and rope ladder for the boys treehouse and an organizer cart for school. Andy's pillow is really cool. It came in two parts. You choose the inside based on how you sleep (back, stomach, or side). Then you choose between down and synthetic for the outside cover. I hope it helps him to sleep better! We tried to find something for organizing toys in the playroom but we don't really know what we want yet and didn't want to spend $ when we weren't sure. I really like going to IKEA but wish we had a whole day to go without children so we could really look around and get ideas. Maybe next time!