Bath time!

Just had to post this cute picture I took of Jacob several nights ago. He loves chewing on the washcloth. I always have to take it away from him as I don't think drinking the bath water is very good for you.

Christmas Eve with the Janis family

Christmas Eve at the Janis home! We had good company and yummy pizza. I love our family tradition. And I love sharing it with our friends.

Daron putting the finishing touches on the meat pizza.

Pepperoni and Italian sausage.

Veggie pizza (peppers, mushrooms, onions, green olives, green onions, and artichoke hearts all sauteed in the pan we cooked the sausage in) This was our favorite this year!

Fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil (forgot to buy fresh basil so we just spinkled on Penzey's basil)

Ham and pineapple

Esther snitching from the fruit platter

Julie and Scott were our guests tonight.

Jacob holding his dinner.

Esther was the angel bringing glad tidings of great joy to the shepherds.

Jacob was very excited to play baby Jesus. Nathan was not happy because he had wanted to play baby Jesus. (See reason why below.)

Julie played Mary and Jacob was being so sweet to her.

Jacob discovered wrapping paper tonight and LOVED it!

The boys got matching race car pjs and Esther got cheetah pjs. She is enamored with cheetahs right now. I love the smiles here!

S cookies and cocoa for Santa. Also, the kids' letters.

Last night Daron and I stepped outside to talk to someone and when we came back in the house, this is what we found. Mary and baby Jesus! Hence, Nathan being upset he couldn't reprise his role tonight.

Christmas Fun

The fans and dehumidifier are finally gone. We are back to just our usual level of noise and chaos!

Looks like the only permanent damage is two sides of the kitchen island. They are made of fake wood and will need to be replaced. Thank goodness that is all!

We got our tree decorated on Monday night despite the fans still being here. We also straightened out the living room as the carpet was all dry.

The tree we cut down ourselves at a local tree farm. Upon arriving there, I realized I had forgotten to take tree varieties into consideration. Texas doesn't grow the beautiful Nobles, Balsams, Douglas, etc. Between that and the droughts there were few decent firs to choose from. Most were scrawny, dry, or yellow.

But we had driven an hour to get there and by jingo, we were going to cut us down a tree. Which we finally did.

And Jacob and I nearly got clobbered by sitting too close to take a picture. Forgot the tree falls on the side it's cut on!

Well, it's a bit see through and crooked but it works.

Pictured below are the tree, kids sitting by the tree (very wiggly kids), decorating cookies, Esther and Mommy at The Nutcracker, new ornaments (Jacob got huge smiles when I handed him his), and an organized garage!

Update

The cause of our problem was just discovered by the plumber. The original plumbers used an incorrect connector between two pipes. That connector broke today, allowing the water to come out into my kitchen and garage. All because someone took a shortcut. Ugh.

All that mess for this lousy little connector!!
(Chapstick is for comparison purpose.)

Flood!

Esther had an early release day and we were settling into a quiet afternoon. It was a few minutes after 1 pm and I was in the kitchen when I heard a strange hissing noise from the other side of the wall (the water heater is in the garage on the other side).

I peeked into the garage and saw nothing unusual about the water heater so I sat down to Google it, afraid there may be danger of it blowing up. I checked again to find water flowing from under the pedestal it sits on - coming from under the wall.

I called Daron and then I ran around trying to make sure things were off the ground. Then the kids started screaming about it coming into the kitchen! They stood on the piano bench and wailed.

And I must admit that the sight of water pouring into your kitchen is not a pleasant thing. I downright panicked!

Daron was trying to help me find a knob or something on the heater but between panic and my eyes not focusing (due to bad sinus pain that was making me slightly dizzy), I did not spot it on a pipe at the top of it.

So he tried to get me to turn off water to the house. I couldn't locate the proper tool and once I did, took it out to the yard and tried to pry open the box. I couldn't get it open all the way and tried to do it through a little hole.

All the while it is raining outside and I'm kneeling in the grass getting filthy. The kids come out with rain boots and umbrellas, leaving baby brother screaming inside the house. I tried the only neighbor I knew was home, an older Vietnamese guy with little English skills. He couldn't turn it either.

Daron was on his way home and the kids and I start moving furniture and stuff off the pantry floor. The living room carpet is squishing now and the towels I'd thrown down in haste are soaked. The foundation is tipped so it was flowing into the living room.

I called Mom and she walked me through finding the lever on top of the water heater (thanks, Mom!) and I got the water stopped. Daron got home and turned the water off outside. He also turned off breakers to that area of the house and unplugged the fridge.

After calling USAA, a water restoration company, and a plumber, Daron mopped up the worst of it.

And Esther and I got ready for our annual night at the Nutcracker. Great timing, huh? Just as well since the water was off and the boys were going to have to eat out anyway.

Well, while we were gone, Dalworth came and cleaned up. Now we've got three powerful and noisy fans and one large dehumidifier working round the clock until Monday.

Now we are waiting for the plumber. He's on his way at 11 pm. Hopefully we can find the source of the leak and get the water back on soon.

Everything is topsy turvy, the tree is still not decorated, I have loads to do, and I'm feeling rather frustrated. Especially at myself for not getting the water turned off sooner.

Well, it could have been worse. I keep reminding myself that. And we did have a nice time at the Nutcracker. And Jacob survived not sleeping all afternoon. And no one got injured. And nothing blew up! So why am I complaining?

Now we know what else to add to our emergency preparedness plan.

A few pictures I snapped quickly with the phone are included.

This is more like it!

We went from mid to high 70s to snow practically overnight. It will all melt in a few hours but at least the temperature has dropped. Now I can finally put up Christmas decorations!

Nathan-ism

Daron is taking Nathan to a birthday party today. Daron reported Nathan's reaction as they pulled up to Chuck E Cheese's.

"I am so excited, my heart is going to turn into a rainbow! And it is going to stay that way the whole day."

Love it!!

Standing?!

This seven and a half month old little boy is very determined to keep up with his siblings. This morning, I caught him pulling himself up to standing with the rocking chair. I missed getting his triumphant (and somewhat amazed) face but here is proof he did it!

Happy National Pickle Day!

How excited we are to find out there is a pickle holiday! We love pickles at our house!

So did Thomas Jefferson!

"On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally's cellar."

It’s National Pickle Day! Pickles have been a popular food for thousands of years. In 2030 B.C., cucumbers were imported from India to the Tigris Valley. There, they were first preserved and eaten as pickles.

In ancient Egypt, people consumed pickles for their nutritional value and because they were thought to enhance beauty. Cleopatra attributed her good looks to her full diet of pickles. Centuries later, Napoleon believed that pickles offered health benefits for his armies, so he offered a huge cash prize to anyone who was able to preserve them safely.

Today we honor the culinary history of pickles. This versatile vegetable can be enjoyed as a condiment, snack, or side dish. Stock up on your favorite kind of pickles and celebrate National Pickle Day!
--from punchbowl.com

Nathan-ism

Nathan and I were having a literal face to face conversation yesterday. He stopped talking, staring at my eyes.

Nathan: That's weird.

Me: What is?

Nathan: Why do sometimes people have maps in their eyes?

Me: Huh?

Nathan: You have little red things on your white part.

Me: Ah! That is called lack of sleep, son!

Halloween Trunk or Treat

This year was really hard to find something that we could all agree on! I finally came up with the idea of recreating the costumes from the kids' favorite show The Backyardigans: International Super Spy. But Esther didn't want to be the "bad guy" Lady in Pink. So we all went as the good guys - super spies.

 Joe Cool here with his top secret briefcase.

 Jacob's tight lipped smile! He wouldn't give me a big grin. His cheek is all red from being out in the sun during a yard sale we were a part of all morning in the cold!

 We have a whole series of Esther's different poses. These were the cutest.

 Double trouble!

 A family of spies. Don't my boys look handsome? And Esther is a natural at sporting her secret agent look. I had so much fun putting everyone else's costume together that I nearly forgot about mine. Thank goodness for a last minute trip to the thrift store for an overly large faux leather coat and some black pants!

I keep wondering how long my kids will think it's cool to dress up together. Forever, I hope!!

Texas State Fair

We really enjoyed our annual visit to the State Fair of Texas!

Checking out the cars and Esther thinks she's a star!

 Jacob taking in all the action and noise.

 Taking a break.

 Daron took the older kids on the Texas Star ferris wheel. That thing is 20 stories high. So I kept my feet on firm ground and stayed with Jacob.

 The carousel is an antique from the 1920s, I believe.

 Jacob sat on a horse for a little while and was loving the wind blowing in his face. But he was so wiggly that I had to take him off and just hold him.

 Every year we see the Kroger Birds of the World show. It's a conservation effort as well as an educational and fun show about birds. They always have two that fly into the amphitheater from the ferris wheel. Here is Nathan giving a bird a donation. The bird took it and put it in the box.

 Big Tex - just days before he was lost to fire. RIP Big Tex...

 This year there was a Chinese Lantern Festival. There were gorgeous lit pandas, pagodas, dragons, walkways, mermaids, lotus flowers, fans, etc. It was really quite pretty.

 This dragon was made of China plates!

What would a lantern festival in Texas be without a herd of longhorn cattle?