Today is Madelyn's 8th birthday, and Tuesday was Hannah's 4th. Since Aaron had stuff he had to do at work today, he took off Tuesday so we could have a family celebration. We ended up going to Huntsville to a few of the museums there. We got a yearly family membership. We spent the morning at the Children's museum, which was pretty small, but they had a lot of fun. And, we practically had the place to ourselves. Then we drove all over Huntsville looking for an O'Charleys since Aaron had a leftover birthday gift certificate there.
Ate lunch there, then went to the railroad museum. I figured the girls wouldn't be too interested, but they ended up having a lot of fun there also. They had a bunch of train cars that you could go into climb all around inside which is so different from other railroad places where you stare at an engine. We toured the 3 story museum, where one story used to be a prison in the civil war. It was neat and by the time we got done there, it was time to come home and get ready for soccer practice.
Yesterday, the youth group watched K-6th graders from 2:30 until 7 when church began. So, I was able to go to the store alone and I took advantage of it.
This morning, I decided we'd do our reading out on the front porch. Our outside chair is one of those camping chairs and it was collapsed. I carefully opened it up to make sure there were no critters inside, and sure enough, there was about 1inch long scorpion in it. I killed it, turned it over, looking around, etc. Didn't see anything, so I sat down and started to read. About 10 min. later, Madelyn starts pointed and gasping, which always scares me, so I jumped up and asked what it was. Under my chair, crawling away was a big black spider, she said let itself down from the bottom of my chair. There is a fold at the back of the chair where the back of the chair and the seat of the chair meet. I guess it was in there. So I killed it and turned it over - Black widow.
So, we came inside. I don't know how I sleep at night.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Just wanted to update.
Last Tuesday, the well driller came and after 2 hours or more of working on the well, finally got it to work. He thinks that perhaps a new stream of underground water broke through some rock to meet up with our stream we were using and that force of water coming in, might have caused sediment to cling to the filter, not letting water come through the pump. He moved the pump up 25 ft, which still keeps it lower than 200ft and somehow in that moving, the sediment came off and the pump is now working. When he first put the pump in, he guestimated that there was 1 gallon per min coming into the well, but when he fixed the pump, he measured it at 3 gallons/ per minute, which is awesome! That is where his theory of another stream coming in comes from.
I had the water tested before it broke and it came back clear of bacteria, but the water still has a gray appearance when you put it in a glass, so once it "appears" clear, I am going to see if they can test it for ores and other stuff. We are still drinking bottled/galloned water to be on the safe side. It seems to be getting clearer every day.
If you tried to call us the past two days, our phone has not been working. All day yesterday, it sounded that screeching sound like when you are trying to get on the internet, then this morning there was no sound at all, and just a few minutes ago - dialtone, yeah! So that is why I got on the internet real quick while it is working.
Here is something you don't hear everyday. On Friday, Aaron went to call his parents, and the phone service played a message that all the long distance phone lines of the company were being used and to try later. So, if you call and it just rings and rings and our answering machine never picks up - apparently, our phone company is booked and try again later.
Kids can make you feel so good about yourselves...
The other day, the whole family was in line at Taco Bell. Hannah thinks everyone is either beautiful or handsome. So, the lady hands us our food and as we are driving off, Hannah says "she is beautiful, I wish she was my Mom" Ouch. Thankfully, I was able to laugh it off and tease her about it all week. -Like "I bet your Taco Bell Mom would let you do it" She felt a little bad, when Aaron, Madelyn, and Natalie got onto her for how insensitive that comment was. So she made up for it. She asked if both of us could be her mom. She didn't let the idea of having 2 moms go for about 3-4 days. I guess time dimmed the beauty of the Taco Bell girl and she was able to settle for me alone after that. HA!
Adoption News
There has been no agreement made between Vietnam and the US concerning adoptions. We had 3 choices with our agency. 1. Drop out of Vietnam and forget about adopting -Quit. 2. Drop out of Vietnam and start over with another country. or 3. Stay where we are, give it another 90 days and see. If they are no closer to an agreement in 90 days, then we will have to drop out of the Vietnam program and start another country.
So, we have decided, since we don't have any money to start a new country right now anyway, we are going to stick with Vietnam until December 1 and hope and pray that they come to an agreement and we will be able to proceed up the waiting list.
Last Tuesday, the well driller came and after 2 hours or more of working on the well, finally got it to work. He thinks that perhaps a new stream of underground water broke through some rock to meet up with our stream we were using and that force of water coming in, might have caused sediment to cling to the filter, not letting water come through the pump. He moved the pump up 25 ft, which still keeps it lower than 200ft and somehow in that moving, the sediment came off and the pump is now working. When he first put the pump in, he guestimated that there was 1 gallon per min coming into the well, but when he fixed the pump, he measured it at 3 gallons/ per minute, which is awesome! That is where his theory of another stream coming in comes from.
I had the water tested before it broke and it came back clear of bacteria, but the water still has a gray appearance when you put it in a glass, so once it "appears" clear, I am going to see if they can test it for ores and other stuff. We are still drinking bottled/galloned water to be on the safe side. It seems to be getting clearer every day.
If you tried to call us the past two days, our phone has not been working. All day yesterday, it sounded that screeching sound like when you are trying to get on the internet, then this morning there was no sound at all, and just a few minutes ago - dialtone, yeah! So that is why I got on the internet real quick while it is working.
Here is something you don't hear everyday. On Friday, Aaron went to call his parents, and the phone service played a message that all the long distance phone lines of the company were being used and to try later. So, if you call and it just rings and rings and our answering machine never picks up - apparently, our phone company is booked and try again later.
Kids can make you feel so good about yourselves...
The other day, the whole family was in line at Taco Bell. Hannah thinks everyone is either beautiful or handsome. So, the lady hands us our food and as we are driving off, Hannah says "she is beautiful, I wish she was my Mom" Ouch. Thankfully, I was able to laugh it off and tease her about it all week. -Like "I bet your Taco Bell Mom would let you do it" She felt a little bad, when Aaron, Madelyn, and Natalie got onto her for how insensitive that comment was. So she made up for it. She asked if both of us could be her mom. She didn't let the idea of having 2 moms go for about 3-4 days. I guess time dimmed the beauty of the Taco Bell girl and she was able to settle for me alone after that. HA!
Adoption News
There has been no agreement made between Vietnam and the US concerning adoptions. We had 3 choices with our agency. 1. Drop out of Vietnam and forget about adopting -Quit. 2. Drop out of Vietnam and start over with another country. or 3. Stay where we are, give it another 90 days and see. If they are no closer to an agreement in 90 days, then we will have to drop out of the Vietnam program and start another country.
So, we have decided, since we don't have any money to start a new country right now anyway, we are going to stick with Vietnam until December 1 and hope and pray that they come to an agreement and we will be able to proceed up the waiting list.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Water water in the well, and not a drop to drink
Someday our well will work, I keep on holding on to that thought.
When our well water level gets down to a certain level, the pump will kick off and we have to reset it. That happened a few times last week, but we did have an extra person here.
Friday, it wouldn't reset.
And there hasn't been water through our pipes since. We called the well digger and he just blamed it on too little water.
Then we went and bought a 65 gallon tank, filled it up with water at a friends, put it in the well, Aaron measured down to the waterlevel, and it was 30ft from the top, meaning there was already quite a bit of water in it before Aaron added the other water. The well is sealed off, but there is a small hole you can add stuff to it.
Called the well digger again and he said that he wasn't coming out to check on the pump until we had an electrician come out to make sure the right kind of wiring was put out there. (the electrician is coming this morning)
Our well digger is a nice man and I think he probably brings to mind our 3 little girls waterless and feels guilty, so he calls us for the 4th time last night to say he was coming Tuesday morning to check.
I am really hoping that maybe the electrician will see the problem and be able to fix it today. We have a 1 year warrenty on our pump, but I really don't want to wait for a new one.
In the meantime, we have lived like the pioneers. To an extent at least.
Aaron had a genius idea a few weeks ago, before our days of rain, to put out these huge barrels to collect rain water just in case. So, that has saved us. We have lugged that water in gallon by gallon, boiling it to wash dishes in, boiling it and putting a little bleach in to rinse dishes. Trying to live off of paper plates as much as possible.
Pouring it in the back of the toilets so we can flush.
Boiling it and then putting it in the big pot in the tub to take "baths" in. More like washing, then rinsing with the water.
Last night, after church, I drove back into town with the jeep and filled up the 65 gallon tank at a friends house, since our barrels are almost empty. Thankfully, our driveway goes up a little at the end. We had to hook the hose onto the big tank of water, turn on the spigot, and walk to the bottom of the hill with the pot, so that gravity will take the water down to your pot.
But you know what... In all of this, our needs have been met. We haven't had it as easy as we usually do. But we have done just fine. Yes, I am still going to pursue getting water from the well to the house.
I'll add pictures later.
When our well water level gets down to a certain level, the pump will kick off and we have to reset it. That happened a few times last week, but we did have an extra person here.
Friday, it wouldn't reset.
And there hasn't been water through our pipes since. We called the well digger and he just blamed it on too little water.
Then we went and bought a 65 gallon tank, filled it up with water at a friends, put it in the well, Aaron measured down to the waterlevel, and it was 30ft from the top, meaning there was already quite a bit of water in it before Aaron added the other water. The well is sealed off, but there is a small hole you can add stuff to it.
Called the well digger again and he said that he wasn't coming out to check on the pump until we had an electrician come out to make sure the right kind of wiring was put out there. (the electrician is coming this morning)
Our well digger is a nice man and I think he probably brings to mind our 3 little girls waterless and feels guilty, so he calls us for the 4th time last night to say he was coming Tuesday morning to check.
I am really hoping that maybe the electrician will see the problem and be able to fix it today. We have a 1 year warrenty on our pump, but I really don't want to wait for a new one.
In the meantime, we have lived like the pioneers. To an extent at least.
Aaron had a genius idea a few weeks ago, before our days of rain, to put out these huge barrels to collect rain water just in case. So, that has saved us. We have lugged that water in gallon by gallon, boiling it to wash dishes in, boiling it and putting a little bleach in to rinse dishes. Trying to live off of paper plates as much as possible.
Pouring it in the back of the toilets so we can flush.
Boiling it and then putting it in the big pot in the tub to take "baths" in. More like washing, then rinsing with the water.
Last night, after church, I drove back into town with the jeep and filled up the 65 gallon tank at a friends house, since our barrels are almost empty. Thankfully, our driveway goes up a little at the end. We had to hook the hose onto the big tank of water, turn on the spigot, and walk to the bottom of the hill with the pot, so that gravity will take the water down to your pot.
But you know what... In all of this, our needs have been met. We haven't had it as easy as we usually do. But we have done just fine. Yes, I am still going to pursue getting water from the well to the house.
I'll add pictures later.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
She was wrong!
I am very happy to say that I am at my house right now typing this. The lady at the phone company was wrong, and apparently, you can get on the internet from our landline phone. I wish I had asked Aaron to hook up the computer days ago, seeing how I have made 3-4 trips to the library over the last week. Oh well, live and learn.
I have been trying to last minute prepare for the class I am teaching at our coop tomorrow. It is the first day and the girls are real excited. It will be hectic tomorrow, since everyone will be scrambling to figure out where they are supposed to go. I have 3 that I have to find their class, and squeeze down the narrow hallways among many many other people there. Thankfully, Hannah stays in the same classroom the whole time and Madelyn and Natalie go to the same first class, after that chaos, because I will be trying to help them find their 2nd classes, and still try to make it to the class I am supposed to teach on time.
We found the copperhead again. We have been looking in this corner in the barn stall almost daily, hoping to see it. Hoping to try and kill it. Aaron tried the other day, but it slithered away, it is hard to kill a snake in a corner with a big shovel. So, she happened to be sitting there tonight, curled up, therefore, Aaron couldn't get a good shot at the head to cut it off. He was able to cut the middle of the body in half and then we saw the babies. We only saw two, because she slithered back in this hole that we can't get to her. The babies were slightly squirmy, but not fully developed, although you could see the faint pattern of a copperhead on the back. We showed the girls, especially Natalie, who loves to catch creepy crawlys, how much they looked like earthworms and to be extra careful.
Now it's got me wondering if perhaps the bulge that we saw in the rattlesnake might have been some babies too. Is it snake baby time of year? Someday, we will find out, b/c it is in our freezer. Yes, I thought maybe we could cook it up for our annual wild game supper at church next February. Don't worry, it doesn't have a head. I have been asking around at church and think I may have a taker. At least someone that will help us prepare it, like the skinning and gutting. Stuff I know nothing about.
More later, I need to go to bed.
I have been trying to last minute prepare for the class I am teaching at our coop tomorrow. It is the first day and the girls are real excited. It will be hectic tomorrow, since everyone will be scrambling to figure out where they are supposed to go. I have 3 that I have to find their class, and squeeze down the narrow hallways among many many other people there. Thankfully, Hannah stays in the same classroom the whole time and Madelyn and Natalie go to the same first class, after that chaos, because I will be trying to help them find their 2nd classes, and still try to make it to the class I am supposed to teach on time.
We found the copperhead again. We have been looking in this corner in the barn stall almost daily, hoping to see it. Hoping to try and kill it. Aaron tried the other day, but it slithered away, it is hard to kill a snake in a corner with a big shovel. So, she happened to be sitting there tonight, curled up, therefore, Aaron couldn't get a good shot at the head to cut it off. He was able to cut the middle of the body in half and then we saw the babies. We only saw two, because she slithered back in this hole that we can't get to her. The babies were slightly squirmy, but not fully developed, although you could see the faint pattern of a copperhead on the back. We showed the girls, especially Natalie, who loves to catch creepy crawlys, how much they looked like earthworms and to be extra careful.
Now it's got me wondering if perhaps the bulge that we saw in the rattlesnake might have been some babies too. Is it snake baby time of year? Someday, we will find out, b/c it is in our freezer. Yes, I thought maybe we could cook it up for our annual wild game supper at church next February. Don't worry, it doesn't have a head. I have been asking around at church and think I may have a taker. At least someone that will help us prepare it, like the skinning and gutting. Stuff I know nothing about.
More later, I need to go to bed.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Moved In
We finally got all of our stuff moved out of the old rental house on Friday. I worked from7-11 that morning. Apparently, I was not even on the schedule for Friday or Saturday, so when they called asking me to help on Friday morning, I was able to leave at 11. Aaron did a good job getting the last of the stuff out of the last two rooms.
We have not run out of our well water yet!! that is exciting. We still haven't gotten it tested. I think I will stop by the health dept. today to pick up our jug. At first, we had lots of tiny rock sediment. Once, while washing my hair, the water turned almost black with sediment, and the tub was always grayish black after the showers, but today, it was clear.
Yesterday, Aaron and I went to Lowes to find some items to fix minor things. I really didn't want to go, but since Aaron was very stopped up and lethargic with his cold, I figured it was safer if I drove him. It is 29miles away. While we were there, Mom called -she was home with the kids, and said the washer was overflowing. So, I told her how to turn off the well, and when we finally got the mess cleaned up, and Aaron got the washer taken apart, the tube in the back was full of rock sediment. I guess we used our washer too soon. So that meant a trip to the laundrymat to wash 3 loads of towels. At least the dryer works.
Our landline phone is supposed to be turned on today, so right now I am at the library on the internet. Hannah is in preschool storytime.
We are planning a trip to the town 30 miles away where we have our Friday coop. That will be 3 trips there this week if we count Friday. I still haven't went to pick up my curriculum to teach on Friday, so that is priority today.
We have not run out of our well water yet!! that is exciting. We still haven't gotten it tested. I think I will stop by the health dept. today to pick up our jug. At first, we had lots of tiny rock sediment. Once, while washing my hair, the water turned almost black with sediment, and the tub was always grayish black after the showers, but today, it was clear.
Yesterday, Aaron and I went to Lowes to find some items to fix minor things. I really didn't want to go, but since Aaron was very stopped up and lethargic with his cold, I figured it was safer if I drove him. It is 29miles away. While we were there, Mom called -she was home with the kids, and said the washer was overflowing. So, I told her how to turn off the well, and when we finally got the mess cleaned up, and Aaron got the washer taken apart, the tube in the back was full of rock sediment. I guess we used our washer too soon. So that meant a trip to the laundrymat to wash 3 loads of towels. At least the dryer works.
Our landline phone is supposed to be turned on today, so right now I am at the library on the internet. Hannah is in preschool storytime.
We are planning a trip to the town 30 miles away where we have our Friday coop. That will be 3 trips there this week if we count Friday. I still haven't went to pick up my curriculum to teach on Friday, so that is priority today.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
I have hired the kids
Yesterday I had the kids help me pack for a while. They did all of my dishes that were in the dishwasher and the plates and bowls left in the cabinets. It was a great help. Then today, since it is down to the last minute, I have really employed them. We have worked our way out through the house and now all I have left is the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Which is quite a bit. We have packed most stuff from each room, but it is the little stuff that takes so much time. Today has been so busy and I am so ready for a nap. But I must press on...
We have taken 3 loads to the house today already. Went to the grocery store for a few things, ate out for breakfast, and went to Sonic after lunch> I surprised the girls with Sonic in thanks for helping me. Really, they have been an asset. Aaron called as I was buckling the girls for our latest trip to the house and he was at the office eating out, so we went out to his office an visited him for a few minutes. And it is only 2:30.
Madelyn is not in dance, but the other night at the local dance studio, they had a back to school Brownie party for those that were Brownies last year, coming back. They let Natalie stay too, even though she was a Daisy last year. They had tons of outfits to dance around in, and they painted nails, spray colored hair on them, fixed their hair. I got some cute pictures, but since the dance outfits aren't very modest, I am not posting them. But I thought this one of Madelyn was pretty. 
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