Realities of Being a Homeowner and how God is soo Good

We've had our first full week at the house:) And what a week it was... LOL!!! We were quickly confronted with the reality of being homeowners.

Monday morning as we were making plans to take a bike ride around our new little neighborhood, the kids were getting some water before we left. From the living room, I heard Lydis fill her cup using our refrigerator's water dispenser, but then after she was done I heard a huge spray of water.

It immediately caught my attention and I jumped up to figure out what it was!! In the kitchen water was pouring out from underneath the refridgerator... pouring out!!!! Pouring out!!!

I quickly realized that it wasn't the actual refridgerator and I pulled the fridge away from the wall! The waterline going into the fridge had come loose and the line was spraying water everywhere..... EVERYWHERE.... crazy amounts of water.

So I ran to call Brian... frantically asking him how to cut off the water. Checked under the sink. Ran outside to cut the main source off (which I couldn't find). He decided to get home!!

And then I grabbed kids to start filling buckets and coolers of water!!!! One kid had hose duty and the other two older ones watched Nate and dumped buckets.... yes, buckets.

Thankfully when the kids started helping and water wasn't spraying everywhere, I thought to grab towels to keep the water from reaching the carpet. And I saw it.... a tiny little valve switch at the base of the refrigerator's waterline!! I didn't know what it did, but thought surely things can't get worse :) Thankfully, it was the switch to cut off water to that line!!!! RELIEF!!

By the time Brian walked through the door... the water was off. Drops coming off the recessed lights. The brand new table sitting in a puddle of water. Towels were soaked all over the floor and more towels needed.

We soaked up what we could. We stuck paper towels under molding. Brian called the contractor and he called the plumber.

It wasn't until the plumber came to hook it all back up that he told us how fortunate we were!! Fortunate that I was at home and caught the "leak" when it first happened. Fortunate that we got the water cut off. Fortunate that we didn't loose our kitchen.

But it made us remember some key things:

1. Things (house, vehicles, new furniture, stuff)is not lasting. At any moment it can be destroyed or taken.
2.  God  is soo good... these moments when you realize what you've been spare from (and not by your own doing) leads to thankfulness and gratitude
3.  We are soo blessed... those stressful moments didn't include any life-threatening situations. We are a healthy family of 6... we are blessed!
4. I have to learn more about home maintenance:) At least for the hours that Brian is at work, I have the responsibility of house emergencies... I have a lot to learn:)
5. And we're very glad for our decision to live close to Brian's job!! As water was spraying everywhere I was thankful that he had a 6-mile drive and not 30:)
6. The house is still under warranty:) Hopefully though we don't have any damage since we were able to clean it all up right away!! Still... provides a little comfort!

High Chair

Nate's highchair was one that fits inside any chair at the table. We have loved having a highchair that doesn't take up a lot of room in our former dining room.

Since the final "move in" was a spur of the moment thing, we lived at the new house without Nate's highchair for a few days...

and Nate did fine without it;)It makes us wonder if we even need the highchair any longer?

But now he's on a really high chair:)

More Wordless Wednesday at  NapTime MomTog, 5 Minutes for Mom,  Mama to 4 Blessings, Go Graham Go

and Live and Love...Out Loud !!!

Tiny Talk Tuesday: Gotta Watch Those Boys:)

Chris loves soda!!!! It's a treat when we're at church socials or when I have to make a cake;) Or when we're visiting with family.

Grandma and Grandaddy brought some soda with them during the week they helped us pack up. I have to say with all the work and the heat, it was nice to have something else to drink besides water:)

But we all got a laugh when Chris was trying to talk Grandma into another glass of root beer.

Chris : "But Grandma, I don't feel drunk!"

LOL!! Took me a minute to realize he knew he was drinking root beer. And then to remember the "drinking" conversations we have had with the kids during Little House on the Prairie episodes :)

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One of Nate favorite new words is "teys" for keys. I know part of the reason is that we have a little book that talks about keys, it's one of his favorites to read at bedtime. We've even caught him sticking our van keys in the ignition:/

We'll now he is making his own keys;) And he knows exactly where they go;)

He's soo proud of himself;)

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Chris and I were playing cards one hot afternoon. After a few hands I let him shuffle the deck. For some reason "shuffling" is an honored job while playing cards:)

But what was precious was Chris saying "chuckle" instead of shuffle;)

And you've got to watch him when he shuffles, he tries to give himself the "wild" cards!! Little rascal:)

Let me say, that I often get busy with too many "housekeeping" things and neglect simple things like playing a game, coloring or even get watching the kids create stuff with their toys. But from our couple of cards games, I really was reminded of the need for me spend "playtime" with them.

Funny, how I read a blog about it a few days later;)

Now it's your turn. What have your kids been saying:)

Moments of Moving and Settling In

As we moved load after load and tried to settle into the new house, it was fun to step back and think of all the firsts and how we were beginning to make this house our new home.

So here are memories I hope to remember:)

Complete boredom.... no toys, TV and too hot to go outside, so Anna makes a ramp with the books she was allowed to keep with her, her pillow, a shoe and a ball we found moving furniture;)

Loading up the van (and the blue car) to the max:)

{Funny}

And yes, even Grandma and Grandaddy's car was packed!! Nothing like 2 adults, 3 kids and 2 cats :) LOL!!! I know I heard some stories from that trip:)

{Pretty}

We are loving the beauty of the property and some of the new furniture that we had purchased for the house. So far the favorite is the pub height table for the eat-in kitchen. Brian had been wishing for one for YEARS:) 

Anna and Lydia settled in with some coloring at the new table with the window to the open backyard behind them.

{Real}

A Late Spaghetti dinner.... late dinners are getting to be the norm around here.... hoping for some earlier meals now that we're all moved in!

And as much as we have tried to keep everything looking clean (except for boxes still everywhere), finding finger and yes, even hands prints are inevitable:/ Thankfully wipes work wonders:)

{happy}

 The one thing that kept us all happy (if that is possible for a 2 yr old) was that we had Grandma and Grandaddy with us for almost a whole week to help us move:) They helped with moving heavy furniture, cleaning both houses, with the kids, in the kitchen... ok... so they did basically everything!! :)

They were so incredibly helpful and it really would have been extreme chaos for us to moved without them! We would NOT be in the place we are now without their help.

So a huge THANK YOU to Grandma and GRandaddy!!
We have plenty of memories with them helping through the week and not many pictures :( But they were here and a working hard with us each day!

We are so very happy to be all moved in;) There is a huge sense of relief of a burden that had been hanging over me for a long time! It's nice to be able to begin to enjoy what we had hoped for these last few months!!

There still is plenty to do around the house.... plenty of boxes that need to be stored or sorted through and the school room... phew! But for now we get to do a little each day...

And enjoy our new house! Our 1st  pancake breakfast was nice as well;)

Linking up to {pretty, happy, funny, real}, Moments to Remember and Weekly Wrap-Up.

We're In & Curls

In another roller coaster ride on Monday and Tuesday morning...


On the way to sign the papers to finalize everything at the bank at 1:30pm on Tuesday, I got a call from Brian that we could stay the night at the new house!!!

And just like that....

we're in!!!

Of course it wasn't that easy:) Almost everyopne we've been working with since October are on vacation this week... our local banker, the loan lady, our contractor, the man we purchased the home from!!

But it worked out... it always does:)

I'll be silent for a couple of days as we adjust and the phone/internet is hooked up:/

Until then...

here are some little boy curls;) They've returned;)







Happy 4th of July:)