Our first 911 call

On Monday I was cleaning up the dishes as the kids were quietly playing in the basement (that should have been a sign). I was enjoying the piece and quiet when my phone rang. “Private Caller” showed up on the caller ID and I answered it since some of my friends and relatives have unlisted phone numbers. This lady said this is 911 and someone called from your phone. I looked over to where my phone was and my other phone was sitting right there.
I said, “Are you sure? Our phone number is XXX-XXXX.” I thought it was a mistake so I wanted to verify that 911 was really calling me back.
She said “Yes that is correct and is xxxx street name your address?”
“Yes, that is our address,” I replied.
“Well someone called from your phone and we wanted to know if we should send some help,” she responded.
I opened the basement door and said, “Are you guys playing with the phone?” Mallory cried out, “Julianne was!”
I knew after she said that that Julianne had called 911. I shut the basement door and told the lady that we did not need any emergency help and that I was sorry that someone called from our house.

I hung up and went back downstairs and reiterated how important it was to not call that number unless it is an emergency. I think she was just testing it out to really see what happened when you dialed that number. I was just glad that I was in the house to answer that phone call instead of emergency vehicles showing up at our house. Hopefully that will be our last phone call to 911.

Mallory finally lost her second bottom tooth after months of it hanging on. Her adult tooth has been coming up behind it for a long time but her baby tooth just did not want to budge. So I tried the pliers this weekend on it and that helped loosen it up and then on Sunday night I pulled again and it came out. Well the tooth fairy did not come that night because we like to teach patients. Mostly it was because the tooth fairy forgot one of Julianne’s teeth so we told her that since she lost it so late in the night the fairy probably did not have time to get it with all the other teeth she had to collect from earlier in the day. So Tuesday morning Mallory comes into our room saying that the tooth fairy did not come again. So that was two nights and no tooth fairy. I had completely forgotten about her tooth and went to bed. D played basketball that night so he came home after I was in bed. He said he remembered but did not do anything about it. So anyway, the tooth fairy managed to come last night, thank goodness, and now little Mallory is doing much better.

Well it rained all weekend and my rain barrel is completely full, and is now tilting forward. I heightened the barrel on bricks so that we could get to the spout and I think the soil underneath the front of the rain barrel sank and now the barrel is leaning forward. So I went to the hardware store and bought rocks and some large pavers so that I can re-engineer the base for the barrel. I am however, mad that I have to empty out the water and fix it because it is leaning and I am afraid it might fall and it just drives me nuts that it is not level. So hopefully I will get to it this weekend.

I must say that I love my rain barrel. The kids can fill up whatever water filled object they want and I don’t have to worry about the spigot being left on, dripping or wasting water. So whenever they want water for water guns, watering cans, etc they know where to go. Additionally, before I set up the hose they would come in the house to fill up the water sprayers and now they do not have to keep coming in through the house to get more water.

My completely stubborn Nathan again pulled off his screaming and wailing episode because he did not want to put “different” clothes on. He was in his favorite soccer shirt and shorts and we were headed to Julianne’s evening soccer practice. It was really cold, he was outside and he had goose bumps all over him but he kept saying that he did not want pants or a jacket on. I had on jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt on. We had a freeze warning that night so it was cold. Usually I don’t stress about if I think he is cold or not. I figure if he is cold he will tell me. But this was not one of those instances, I knew it was cold and I wanted to put pants and a long sleeve shirt on. So once again I told him that I was going to put these clothes on him and he again refused to give in. So after about 15 minutes I took him in his room and changed him. Again he fought but my neighborhood babysitter was visiting so she witnessed his stubbornness and helped get his clothes on. So this was much easier than the last time I had to fight him. So we changed him and he survived but man he is one stubborn child.

Here are how my plants are progressing now. I am so happy that they are actually growing. I think that now they are getting to tall for my artificial light and now the leaves are not looking very good. So I may move them in Julianne's room so that they can get real light.



We also had a lot of action at our house last week. We had our driveway torn up and a new concrete driveway put in. When I would shovel the snow chunks of our old driveway could come up. We knew it was time to either get a new one or keep patching the old one. So we took the plunge and purchased a new concrete one. So we are glad that hopefully this will be the only driveway we will have to put in. The kids had a blast that day. It was instant entertainment. We love the new driveway and we even had them put in a base for our new basketball hoop. D is in heaven. He loves his new basketball hoop so I am happy that he loves it.

The workers let Mallory and Nathan ride in the digger. Nathan did not want to go in it at first but he did after Mallory rode in it. Julianne did not want to ride it in. They had a great time helping drive it and lift the shovel up and down.










Things I am grateful/thankful for:
- my rain barrel (what a great idea)
- A great yoga teacher
-being able to get a new driveway.

Updates

Well I have been busy working in the yard, enjoying the beautiful weather and not posting on my blog. Within the past two weeks we have received two fun and special gifts. I now own a composter and a rain barrel. I am so excited. The composter was more of a purchase in order to test it for work. Someone at work submitted a composting proposal for use in the home office. So it was basically approved and we thought it was a great idea with all the cafeteria scraps that currently are thrown away. The maintenance director wanted to wait until the early summer in order to give the current staff time to adjust to the new recycling routine and to get up to full time staff. He also wanted me to get references for the composter that the team member proposed. He wanted to know it if was really durable, what the end product would look like, etc. So I wrote the company asking them to send me some references. I did not receive a response so I then called and left two messages. I did not receive a response. So I ended up buying one so that I could test it out. I have been wanting to purchase a compost tumbler for a while so this was motivation to actually do it. So we have had it for two weeks and it has been really nice. It is easy to use, gets lots of air in it and it very durable. We have been throwing in our kitchen scraps and throwing our yard waste into it for the past two weeks. Within the next week we will stop putting stuff in it so that it can compost. Then hopefully I will be able to see the results and report those back to our office.


Here it is. The picture is terrible but I don't feel like taking another picture of it.

Inside shot

My second toy is my rain barrel. I have been wanting to get one of these since I first saw them a few years ago. I was a little hesitant about cutting my gutter but within the past year they have developed easier ways to connect it to your gutter. Additionally, if it fills up the water goes back into the gutter. So why would I not use one? It was easy to install, I drilled a hole in my gutter and hooked up the attachment. I also strategically located it next to my garden so that hopefully I can put a soaker hose in my garden and then just attach it to the rain barrel nossel. I had it installed for about a week before we got any rain. Friday was our first rain and it filled about half way up. So that was exciting first of all that it worked and secondly that it filled up so fast. I have already used it and I love not having to turn on my facet, move my hose around, etc.


Hail to the rain barrel.

The left is the area for my garden.

So anyway, that is about it. Julianne had her first soccer game of the season yesterday. She did an excellent job during the game. D and I talked about how much progress she has made since her first game in the fall and her first game this spring. This game she was aggressive, she knew what was going on, she was not afraid of making mistakes and she enjoyed herself. So it was great to see. She even scored a goal so that made her super excited. It is great to see her gain self confidence in something that she does and we are proud of her for that.


Julianne talking to her friend during their break.


She is going after the ball. Go Julianne. She definitely had that splotching red face after the game from running so hard.


What a kick. I wish the picture was better. Look at her red face.

She is in the action now.

Nathan and his favorite babysitter.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-great spring weather
-Spring blooms
-fantastic, loving and involved hubby

Our Easter weekend

We had a great weekend. On Saturday we went with my sister to her country club for an Easter brunch and hunt. The cousins had time playing with each other and the girls had a fun time hunting Easter eggs. I had a little delimma with Nathan that was funny and also very frustrating. I had to get him "dressed up" which entailed a short sleeve button down shirt and khaki pants. Forty minutes before we left I told him that we needed to get him dressed. He said he did not want to wear that outfit and I told him that I was sorry that he did not want to wear it but that we were going to put it on him. He said he did not want to wear it and I told him that he could spend time in his room until he was ready to put on his outfit. Five to ten minutes later he came back and asked me if he could get out of his room and I told him that he could not come out until he was ready to get dressed. He continued to be stubborn and would not allow me to get him dressed. So about 30 minutes later we had to leave so I told him that I was getting him dressed weather he liked it or not. Well I ended up forcing him to get dressed while he was screaming. He is one strong three year old. He was kicking and screaming and making a big deal out of nothing. Julianne was in our neighbors driveway and she said that she could hear Nathan screaming all the way to their house. I was so frustrated with him. He drove me nuts. We never make him get dressed and it just frustrated me that he did not understand that we were putting the clothes on weather he liked it or not and that he just needed to deal with it in a better way. Oh well that is my perspective. His stubborn perspective is that he did not want to wear the outfit that I picked out for him and he did not understand why I wanted him to wear it. So now I can laugh at his stubbornness and strong willed personality but at the time it was very frustrating. It took him awhile for him to relax and enjoy himself.

On Sunday D's mom and stepdad came over for brunch and egg hunting. We had a great time and we enjoyed their company on this holiday. The kids had fun hunting for the eggs. We grilled out that night and went to the park. So it was a nice family filled day. I love those days.


This is the doll I made for Lexee from my brother's baby lovey. It turned out really well. The blanket was so thin that I had to put fusible interfacing on all the fabric so that it would hold up to stitches and stuffing.

Here are all the cousins. Note that Nathan was not in this picture. He was still being stubborn from his outfit fiasco.

The girls had their face painted and the lady did an excellent job. We were sad that we had to take the face painting off at night.

This was our family picture. None of the kids were participating well. They were all off and not really looking at me all at once. So I never really got a great picture.



Julianne's competitive spirit came out as she ran to look for the most eggs.

Nathan was running all over the place and loving looking for Easter eggs.


D's cute butt.

I love Julianne's face in this picture.

Mallory was supper sweet and she gave Nathan a couple eggs since she had more than he did.

Here is Mallory skiing. I forgot my camera so my sister took these pictures.

Here is another one of Mallory and cousin Caitlyn.

Here is all the girls.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-great weather days
-family fun filled days
-Mallory (Julianne also shared later) sharing her Easter eggs with Nathan
-Spending quality time with D

We're back

Well we are officially back from spring break. We had a great time and it is good to be back. We arrived in Salt Lake City at 1:00 am. their time which was 3:00 a.m our time on Monday morning. We gave the kids a little melatonin for the plane ride so that they would get some sort of sleep. Mallory and Nathan went right to sleep but Julianne was a little reluctant to succumb to the additional melatonin in her body. We got up early the next morning to get the girls ski's and get them off to ski school. They actually did quite well with their sleep deprived bodies. We did not have too many breakdowns. They had a lot of fun at school and learned a lot. Mallory seemed to progress the most especially since last year. Last year she had a hard time with maintaining the pizza wedge. I think mostly because she did not have enough strength to stop suddenly. On Wednesday we skied with the girls all day. Mallory loved to ski straight down the hill in her wedge and then complain that her legs were sore. She finally did turns and it seemed to help her speed and her legs. However, she was not afraid of going fast and it did not seem to phase her on the winding green runs. It did phase me. I was afraid that she would not be able to stop and would fly over the edge of the mountain. Julianne had a great time and also progressed as well. She challenged herself to go on the blue slopes and had great form and control. It was great to ski with D and our family. We had time to ourselves and time with my family. It was great to be out of Ohio and be out of our house with the kids.

Mallory had strep throat at the beginning of the month and then she had it again on Saturday before we left. I was unsure if it was coming back so I was a little hesitant about taking her to the local pharmacy clinic but the test did come back positive. So I was glad that I did take her so that we would not recreate last years Spring Break strep throat incident with Julianne. They put her on a strong antibiotic (I think they call it a Z pack). So hopefully that will stop the bug from coming back.

Nathan escaped March without a strong asthma episode. Before we left for spring break he had a runny nose and lots of coughing but it never progressed further than that. So that is great.

This week is busy with taxes to do and a plan to finish for work. I have been working non-stop on both of those tasks, as well as unpacking and doing the usual housekeeping/child raising tasks. I am blaming those extra things for my lack of blog entries. Sometimes when I don't write for awhile I become overwhelmed and do not know where to begin. So I guess I have also put it off. I know other noteworthy occasions occurred but I cannot think of them right now.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-taking a spring break vacation
-seeing my girls ski
-spending quality time with D and my family
-having great trustworthy neighbors take care of our house and dogs

Lovely Spring Weather

Due to the warmer spring like weather, we took the dogs for a walk on Tuesday and Thursday. That is the most they have been walked all winter. So they were tired but I think they were glad to be out of the house and out of the snow.


We played Elefun outside and it was great to play it in a larger space then our playroom.




While on our walk Mallory picked up every struggling worm off of driveways and put them in the grass. Needless to say it was a long walk.


"Girls! Here's another worm."

"Oh I am tired after that walk."

I am propagating seeds this year for my first real official garden. I planted basil and rosemary last year but this year I hope to actually grow veggies. So I took a seed propagation class a few weeks ago and then last night I took a organic veggie garden class. Both were very informative especially for a newbie like myself. I learned a lot and I hope it will help me in my gardening endeavors. So I started my seed propagation last week and I have a great turnout. Most of my plants, except for the cilantro , has popped up. My greatest fear is getting the plants started and then having them die once they get outside. So we will see what success I have. I propagated basil, cilantro, heirloom big mouth tomatoes, heirloom Al Kuffa tomatoes and heirloom Quadrato d'Asti Rosso red peppers. I am still participating in our local CSA with my good friend but I thought that the red peppers and tomatoes were lacking so I wanted to produce them myself. So I am hopeful that my brown thumb will become green this spring and summer. So wish me luck.




My friend Katie is starting a garden in TN and she hired someone to make her a 4X8 raised garden bed. I think that was a great idea and I wish there was someone in Columbus that did that. I guess there probably is I just don't know. But I thought that was a great idea. You go Katie.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-warmer weather.
-Hearing the birds chirp and seeing animals in my backyard (we had two ducks in our mud pond on Thursday) after a long winter
-Nathan saying "Mommy, I like your shoes" (my fancy shoes I wore to work)
-Julianne questioning how Santa flies from north pole to our house and back to other houses in one night.

My poor Mallory

Mallory was not feeling well on Wednesday and it just got worse on Thursday. So I took her in and she did not test positive for strep throat but she put her on antibiotics because her eyes were really red. We had to go to Julianne's open house on Thursday night and poor little Mallory looked like we punched her in the eyes. Her eyes were also secreting yellow stuff and she was just miserable. By Friday she was doing a lot better and her red eyes went away. The doctor sent her strep test to another lab and it did end up being strep. So that darn strep bug went havoc on her eyes. She is much better and is back to her usual self.

This was Mallory on Wednesday night when only one eye was red.

This was Thursday night and the picture made it look better then it actually was.

Julianne had a school production and open house on Thursday night and it was really good. The class has been studying the continents so the songs centered around different cultures. She was really into it and seemed to enjoy herself without becoming self conscience or unhappy.


This one is for you honey.


She is showing us her work in her classroom.


Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-seeing my deer family again on a morning run.
-Running some older routes since the snow is melting (I could not run on busy streets since the sidewalks were covered in heavy snow)
-warmer weather