WHAT'S THAT SMELL!?!?!

For the past 2 weeks in our house we have had a HORRIBLE smell coming from our finished basement. We researched things online, poured bleach down every drain, we even had a Roto Rooter plumber come out and they couldn't find anything (fortunately they didn't charge us to come out). Out side of our house our water main had a sink hole of sorts so we had the water company come out and check it out, they repaired it and we were praying that would solve our problems- but that night, the SMELL WAS BACK!?! AUGH!!! We just didn't know what to do. We called our local sewer treatment facility to see if it was a potential backup, they came down and couldn't find the source either.
This has been the topic of our conversations daily for the last 2 weeks, after we had done everything we knew what to do we honestly didn't know what the next step would be and it was causing a great deal of stress.
WELL TODAY I FOUND THE SOURCE OF THE SMELL!!!!! We had gone to yard sales this morning and Lauren had cleaned up with a HUGE new Polly Pocket and Barbie stash for super cheap. I was downstairs helping her clean things up, get rid of old things and organize the new. Well, in our toy bin right by the sewage line in our basement that we had the plumber look at, the sewage company look at, etc. was a baggie and it was MOVING! I looked closely, smelled "THE SMELL" strongly and SCREAMED for Tim to come quickly. The kids had dyed Easter eggs at Easter time and apparantly one of the baggies of eggs had ended up in the toy bin and the egg had cracked and THAT was the source of the smell........... UNBELIEVABLE!!! We were entirely grossed out AND relieved at the same time. I am so thankful that is all it was and even more thankful that we didn't pay for another plumber to come out and were spared the expense. If I would have found the egg AFTER I had paid big bucks for a plumber I wouldn't have the smile on my face that I do now : )

Is it really THAT time already!?!

The summer is winding down.... what a WONDERFUL summer it has been. This summer we spent 18 glorious days in Disney, made new friends,lost several teeth (Lauren's first included), spent endless days at the pool, Lauren learned to swim in the deep end (YEAH!), enjoyed a wonderful vacation on Lake Michigan, days at Kings Island and at the water park,and the zoo,Vacation Bible School,campfires with Smore's,sleepovers; lots of GREAT family times.
I hate this time of year. I love spending the summers with my family SO much, and seeing that come to an end is always so hard for me.
I can't believe I'll have a third grader and a Kindergartener this year. Here is a picture of Luke on his first day of Kindergarten that seems like only yesterday:


I am so sad that I won't be able to put Lauren onto the Kindergarten bus this year - it literally breaks my heart. Her first day is only my second day of school and right in the middle of when I see students so there is no way I'll be able to break away. She's so awesome though - doesn't seem to phase her. Here is my baby girl on her first day of preschool last year:


I am really enjoying this stage of parenting- helping them learn to swim in the deep end, having them fight over who gets to cuddle with mom first, but watching them grow is also just so difficult, I blink and they are another inch taller, their loosing teeth, their entering KINDERGARTEN and THIRD GRADE! Wow!
I am so blessed being their mom, I will soak in every single hug, every moment, I just love them so very much!

Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo!

I took advantage of a rainy/cloudy day AND our zoo membership yesterday and took the kids to the zoo - WHAT FUN we had!
They have re done the Cincinnati Zoo Vine Street Entrance and it is BEAUTIFUL! They have a nice bridge walkway over to the new entrance, it made my kids who have been to the Cincinnati Zoo a trillion times say: "have we been to this zoo before mommy".
We immediately went to feed the giraffes, what a cool experience - it was worth the $1.00 a cracker they charge:


Being eye to eye with a giraffe is an awesome thing!


We enjoyed the moderately cool temperatures and the light drizzle which effected the crowds and just had a wonderful zoo day. I don't remember the last time we were at the zoo where the kids were BEGGING to stay longer at each attraction!
We went into the nursery in the childrens zoo area and saw the most ADORABLE 1 month old baby cheetah, oh my goodness, SO CUTE!



There was even a baby kangaroo a lady was carrying around in a pouch and feeding watermelon- the kids really got a kick out of that.
Then we headed to my favorite exhibit in the zoo - the polar bears, luckily he was going for a swim:


It is always amazing to me just staring at this enormous creature swimming under the
water, the kids of course loved it too.
Then we headed to parakeet landing and fed the parakeets. The kids had fun feeding them and they were landing on people like crazy:



Poor Lauren FREAKED out when one landed on her head:


But she recovered quickly and went right back to feeding them. We enjoyed a train ride, a carosel ride, the petting zoo where they fed the billy goats. A nice leisurely lunch, the insect house and of course jungle trails to see the monkeys and the gorilla house to see the huge gorillas. We made the whole day out of it, what a wonderful zoo day!

LIVE YOUR DREAMS!

So today I was watching the Price is Right with Lauren. I have always loved that show. I remember watching it as a kid and always dreaming of getting my chance to be on stage and win the big prizes. In the summer when we happen to be home when it airs at 11:00 I always say "turn it to channel 12 Price is Right is On!" They have grown to love it along with me. Well, today when I was watching it with her I said "I have always wanted to be on that show Lauren" her response absolutely CRACKED me up! She said "MOM, you need to LIVE YOUR DREAMS, everyone lives their dreams but you, you've done your dream to be a mom but you need to do ALL your dreams." Silence for a minute and a HUGE smile from me thinking of what a deep thing my FIVE year old daughter had just said......... then she continued by saying:
"I've had all my dreams come true, I have a good family and a great mom"
Wow, talk about making a mom's day. What a sweet sweet girl I have been blessed with.

Both of my children are such a blessing to me, such good kids. I want to put them in a bubble on some days and just freeze time, freeze their purity, freeze how much they love me at this moment in time, just FREEZE. they are growing up so quickly, time is slipping through my fingers. Lauren lost her FIRST tooth this weekend, and Luke lost his seventh tooth. Lauren enters Kindergarten this year and Luke enters 3rd
grade. WOW, it seems like only yesterday I was holding my preemie Lauren in a nursery or Tim was rushing me to the hospital after my water broke with Luke.
How do I freeze time?

Why are girls so mean to one another?

As a girl, growing up I had some terrible encounters that I can remember QUITE clearly of girls at school just being downright mean, cruel and nasty to me. I remember many times being in tears explaining to my mom what the girls had done and her always doing her best to calm me down and console me. Well, now unfortunately for me the role has been revearsed and I'm trying to explain to my dear daughter at the age of 5 why girls can be mean. She came home crying today because a neighborhood girl had been mean to her and was making fun of her - Luke was an awesome big brother and came to her defense and brought her home in tears. Boy, my heart just aches for her. WHY ARE GIRLS SO MEAN???
Boys don't do this. Now, of course there are boy bullies out there and "not so nice" boys, but girls I have found (some girls) just do anything they can to cut other girls down, insult them, and just level them- why is this? I know our school counselors office is always full of second and third grade girls due to this fact, always having to squelch one incident after another.
I tried my best to explain to Lauren that this girl will not have many friends because of her actions (this girl has a history of this) and that she doesn't want friends like this anyway. I told her to stand up for herself when girls do this, don't just hide away and cry, say "stop treating me like that!", etc. if she feels that she can, or just ignore them the best that she can- don't give them the justification of seeing you upset. BOY that is a HARD lesson to try and teach to a 5 year old. I told her that Jesus made her a special little girl with a special heart and he will give you wonderful friends that will treat her the way she wants to be treated (she of course instantly came up with an example of a sweet little girl who is her friend).
Don't you just want to put your kids in a bubble and shelter from all of this!?! Why can't all kids just be nice to one another ... .oh yeah, that stupid sin nature in all of us.......... lovely!

I don't want to grow old!

We just returned from a wonderful 2 1/2 week Disney vacation - we had an amazing time.
While we were away my grandmother was rushed to the hospital where she stayed for awhile and is now in a nursing facility in the local senior citizen facility that she and my grandfather had an apartment in. The kids and I went to visit her today and I just don't think I was prepared for what I saw. Physically she looked pretty good, not too different from when I had last seen her, but mentally she is not the same and it was just so darn sad. She is in a wonderful facility - but you just can't sugar coat things like that - I would NEVER want to be where she is and reality tells me that someday I probably will be. She is in a small room with a roommate. She basicaly spends her entire day (other than when they pick her up for therapy) sitting in a recliner in her room starring at the wall or dozing. I offered to turn the t.v. on for her, to get her something to drink, if she wanted us to wheel her outside - to all of which she replied "no, I'm fine". How sad, how very very sad. This once vibrant woman, who I have seen pictures of when she was my age- and the woman was gorgeous - it just breaks my heart. As I watched my kids cling to her and give her hugs and tell her how much they loved her, it was wonderful to see the joy on her face. She said "sometime soon you won't have to visit this dreadful place". Luke later said : "I think she meant she will be in Heaven". I think that's what she meant too, I think she is ready to go . . .and you know what. . .I don't blame her.
When we were leaving I asked her if there is anything that we could do for her and she said "no, just get out there and enjoy life." WOW, I certainly will. I will cherish every moment of this life that is mine and be greatful for each blessed day.

33 Years.......... Wow!

Well, today is my 33rd birthday. I was awakened by wonderful presents from Tim and the kids and had a wonderful birthday full of shopping, a pedicure as a gift, lunch with my mom and dad and dinner out with Tim and the kids - it was a wonderful day.
I can't believe I am 33 years old, there was a lot going through my head as I blew out my candles this evening:



First of all I was thinking "I am truly blessed" in every single way a person can be blessed. Most importantly I have my health, thank the Lord for my health and the health of my family. The Lord has blessed me with a loving husband who is my best friend, two wonderful children, a great extended family, a steady income, wonderful friendships both old and some new, a beautiful house over our heads, a great church to worship in, a neighborhood full of caring people, a job that I do indeed love (although stressful at times), and the blessing of our financial security that allows us to travel so many times to our beloved Disney World and other multiple travel destinations throughout the year.
As the positives rush through my mind, of course negatives always creep in too. My 33 year old body is not the body I had as a teenager, a twenty year old, or even a 30 year old. It is my own fault, I love to eat and hate to exercise - I know that needs to change. I am working on embracing my 33 year old body and the changes that have come with it. When I went to get my drivers lisence today that had expired the lady asked me if my weight had changed since my last lisence and I laughed out loud and said "yes, unfortunately you can ad 30 pounds onto that number : ( " But in times like those I need to focus on the positives again, knowing that in reality - is my body THAT bad? Do I need to be so focused on what jiggles and not just embrace who I am? I know that I need to work out more and eat better and I realize that more than ever because my metabolism has caught up with this 33 year old body, but I'm also realizing there are worse things in life and not to let it get me down.
So, in my 33rd year of life I will try and find a new sense of self and confidence and embrace the changes. I will commit to exercise more and eat better overall and try and focus on what matters MOST in my life: the love of my family and the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me which are honestly to many to count.