Some day we will laugh about this...right????

So tonight we had an episode that can only be filed under "Some day we will laugh about this, right??"

Katie & Megan were upstairs taking a shower together in our bathroom, and Jessi was curled up on the couch downstairs between me (watching TV) and Chris (working on his laptop).  We started hearing dripping.  Where was it coming from?  Then we heard a pouring sound.  And found out where it was coming from - THE CEILING!!!  Water was pouring out of the ceiling right above the computer!!

Chris ran upstairs to turn off the shower - we figured a pipe had burst or the drain had a crack or something.  I ran into the kitchen to grab bowls and buckets to catch the water and towels to clean up the desk and computer.  Then I went upstairs to survey the damage.  It was not pretty...Chris' language, that is!  The girls were both crying their eyes out by the time I got upstairs.

It seems they thought it would be fun to plug up the shower drain with their washcloths, so the water would get higher.  But the shower basin is only about 2" tall, and they didn't think about what would happen when the water got up to that level.  They just kept happily splashing around in the shower, oblivious to the fact that water was pouring out of the shower, onto the carpet of our bathroom floor, through the floorboards, onto the drywall ceiling of the family room, and eventually onto the family room desk/chair/floor.

Neither one would fess up to whose idea it was, or who started it, despite Chris' intense interrogation.  (I figure it doesn't matter, they didn't do it on purpose to cause a mess, they did it to have fun)  The computer, desk, chair, and carpet are all fine, but the ceiling has a lot of damage to it.  There is one big soft spot about a foot across (see below), and the drywall tape line is bulging for about 10' long down the seam.  Guess we're calling a drywall guy tomorrow!!

I just keep repeating to myself, "some day we'll laugh about this!"  Please tell me I'm right!  (and don't tell me if you're laughing right now!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Thank you for all of the cards and fun little gifts for the girls!  They love everything you sent/emailed them.  Thanks for thinking of them on Valentine's Day!

We had a lot of fun today.  Last night I decorated the kitchen with all of our V-Day decorations (since I never got around to putting them up any earlier).  So the girls were surprised to come downstairs this morning and see the kitchen all decked out in pink and red!  I got them each a cute card, and a Reese's PB heart.  The hearts were gone before breakfast!  I made them pink heart-shaped pancakes topped with strawberries, and pink strawberry-banana smoothies for breakfast.

At school they each passed out valentines, and brought home gobs and gobs of candy.  They were excited it was a non-uniform day, so they wore pink (Megan) and red (Katie) to school today.  For dinner, I made a new recipe - lobster and shrimp pasta with sherry tomato cream sauce.  Fancy schmancy!  And delicious!  For dessert, we made chocolate-dipped strawberries. 

Katie & Megan worked hard on a secret project upstairs last night and tonight - a V-Day banner and homemade presents for each of us.  So much creativity in two little kids!  I got a necklace made out of hospital gauze, with bits of yarn and ribbon tied all along it.  It's...interesting...and colorful.  Chris got a 'man' made out of a paper towel tube, wearing a vest and tie and a nametag "Mr. Lovey Dovey".  Jessica got a little doll that is a cross between our two presents!  My favorite part is that we had to pay a penny to go upstairs (Megan gave us each a penny, then took our collection back at the top of the stairs), and they had music playing for the presentation of gifts.  They really plan out every single detail!

After getting the kids in bed, Chris and I did a mountain of dishes, watched some TV, and filled out the school registration forms for next year.  So romantic!

Jessica's face after eating a Fun Dip candy.  What a mess!  Her tongue was bright green!

Girls showing off the chocolate-dipped strawberries.  Notice Mr. Lovey Dovey on the table.  Also notice Jessica's sourpuss face and her plate full of food.  She decided she didn't like dinner tonight.  And she refused to try it.  So she sat at the table while we enjoyed the strawberries.  She was mad, but not mad enough to eat a single bite of dinner!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Yesterday was our gym's Daddy Daughter Dance.  Chris has taken the girls to it the past few years, and they really look forward to it!

Chris with his princesses.

I told everyone to turn around to show off their beautiful hairdos.  I put the girls' hair in french braids for school yesterday, since I knew I wouldn't have much time to do their hair before the dance.  I didn't braid Chris' hair, it's always that gorgeous!

Party girls on the dancefloor after dinner.

Jessica wore her Belle dress to the dance.  She was so thrilled to meet the 'real' Belle at the dance!

The girls each got fancy princess crowns, necklaces, bracelets, etc.

The best part is always the balloon drop at the end of the night. I can't even imagine how much screaming there is in a gymnasium chock full of little girls!

February Fun

The first few weeks of February have been jam-packed with fun!  The first week was Catholic Schools Week at school, which meant lots of special events and dress-up days.  The week ended with a family movie night at a local church, where we watched Gnomeo & Juliet with 100 of our closest friends.

Katie had 'Wacky Clothes' day at school, and Megan had pink day at school

All three girls had pajama day at school on the same day!!

Chris was in Turin, Italy the first week of the month, so when he returned we had lots of surprises for him.

We got him Texas Pete-flavored chips!  His favorite hot sauce!

Katie & Megan decorated this half of the driveway for him.

Jessica colored in Welcome Home Dad!

 He didn't have bad jet lag this time around.  I think it really helped that it was so sunny and warm when he got home, and we went on a long walks on both Saturday and Sunday.  We all enjoyed the sunlight and fresh air!  On Superbowl Sunday, we went to a fun little gathering at a friend's house.  We love friends with finished basements...we just throw the kids downstairs and close the door!  :)

A few days ago, Katie got her brand new glasses!  She is twins with Jessica now!  They have identical frames, but Katie's is adult-sized.  Katie is mildly far-sighted, and has bifocals to help her with reading.  She adjusted well to them right away.

Today we went to the DIA to see the Rembrandt "Faces of Jesus" exhibit.  It was spectacular (but very crowded).  I think the girls really got a lot out of it, since they are familiar with many of the bible scenes that we saw.  The exhibit showed how Rembrandt changed his painting style over time, from traditional European views of Jesus (blond hair, chiseled body, grand gestures) to more realistic views of Jesus (dark hair, Jewish features, gentle and contemplative gestures).  The exhibit was full of studies of two of his paintings/etchings of the same scene, side by side, one from early in his career and one from late in his career, and the differences were explained.  We all learned a lot!

We wandered around most of the museum, and the girls loved the eye-spy clues in each room.  Our favorites were the knights of armor, the Rivera mural room, the impressionist paintings, and the modern art rooms, but we enjoyed everything.

We posed outside the museum after enjoying lunch in the DIA Cafe - my favorite place for lunch!

 After the DIA, we walked across Woodward to the Detroit Historical Museum.  I got a family membership from Groupon - a real steal!  We enjoyed the miniature train exhibit and the streets of Detroit exhibit the most.

Girls driving a Model T.  They each got to crank the engine to start it up!

The dress-up clothes in the toy exhibit room were also a big hit!

Jessi the butterfly peace cheerleader!

Katie the jester!

We had a busy day, but two museums weren't all we did today.  We came home to have an afternoon of sledding in our backyard with our neighbors!  And we had movie night at home tonight, too.  The Smurfs movie was much better than I had expected!  (though I had low expectations)

January odds and ends

January was a whirlwind of a month!  Like usual, I suppose.  :)  School, preschool, choir, tutoring, library storytime, library volunteering, and ballet have been going strong all month.  Megan is in the school Math Club, so she stays after school on Thursdays to play math-oriented games with her classmates.  ("Mom, there's no math!  We just play games!")  Katie has tutoring at the same time, so she can't be in math club this year, unfortunately.

Medically, we've been keeping the doctors busy - and rich.  Katie still gets her allergy shots every other week, and she just had a new eye exam and picked out new glasses (bifocals again, in frames that are identical to Jessica's!).  Chris and I had our physicals, required by his insurance, and I had a new eye exam and have had lots of visits to find some contacts that are comfortable.  Jessica had her first cavity and first filling.  She goes back to the eye dr next week for a re-check, and might get a new, stronger prescription.  She is at +2.50 and needs to get to +4.0.  She needs her kindergarten shots and she needs a hearing screening before she can get into kindy.  Whew!

Socially, we've been party animals!!  :)  The girls had four birthday parties to attend over MLK Jr weekend alone.  Megan had another one this past Saturday, and Katie had a sleepover at a friend's house.  We hosted a chili cookoff with friends one night, and we went to Ottawa Lake for the Christensen Christmas.  We've taken the girls ice skating several times this month, including once to a friend's house on Lake Orion.  The girls loved skating on the canal where they went swimming this past summer!  Chris loved playing lake hockey with his friend and with the neighborhood pre-teen boys.  We also take the girls swimming about once a week.  All three are little fishies!  Jessi is a fantastic swimmer and loves diving for pennies.

Work has been a bear this month, esp for Chris.  He spent the first week of Jan prepping for an influx of Italian visitors.  The second week was when his Italian counterparts visited, and Chris organized all of their meetings/trips/meals/transportation.  The gang had a blast at the proving grounds (off-roading), at the auto show, and touring all of Chrysler's testing facilities.  Last week he was busy prepping for this week.  This week he is in Italy!!  February is shaping up to be just as busy for him, unfortunately.  My work is slow, mostly because I just don't have time.  :(

School has been wonderful this past month!  All three girls have really hit their stride.  Katie is doing well in every single subject.  She does her homework and studying independently, and is maintaining her good grades all on her own!  Megan is a confident reader, having just finished her first chapter book all by herself - she read Magic Tree House #1 out loud to us.  She is now reading book #2 to herself, a little bit each night.  She is doing great in math, too.  Jessica continues to amaze us with her "academics".  She knows so much math and is starting to read, plus she is soaking up everything her sisters do and talk about.  Little miss smarty pants!

The weather has been crazy warm this month.  I saw on the weather tonight that we've had four days of 50+ temps this month!  And many more in the 40's.  We have not had more than 3" of snow at a time yet!!  And when we get snow, it melts within a few days.  It makes me nervous for spring...will we get our snow in April and May????

OK, onto the pics....

Girls singing in the choir at a MLK Jr interfaith celebration

Megan and Katie with their treats from the Greektown bakery - peanut butter mud pie, and chocolate mice!

Jessi's face after a chocolate mouse!

Megan's tooth is hanging on by a thread!

And...it's gone!  Megan lost her 3rd tooth!  My adorable jack-o-lantern!

Jessica skating on Lake Orion

Megan chased me with snowballs on the lake

The girls cleared away more snow for their very own tiny ice rink

Jessi making a snow angel at home this morning.

Jessi rolling a snowball

Katie hanging out in her snow fort this morning.

 

Katie and Jessi sledding in our back yard.

Hope you enjoy the pics and stories!!  I'll try to do a better job of keeping up in February!!  :)

School fairs

Yesterday was the school's "Night of Art, Science, and Culture," aka art fair, science fair, and cultural fair crammed into one night!  Katie did three projects, and Megan did two.

Megan's science project.  She did a demonstration of this experiment for her first grade class earlier this year, when she was "star of the week."  It was neat to see her stand up in front of her class and talk!  So this poster was quick and easy for her, especially since Chris typed it all up for her!

Katie's science project.  Didn't it turn out nice?  She thought it up by herself, and Chris helped her do it, and helped her type it up.  She earned 10 extra credit points in science for doing this poster.

Katie's cultural fair poster.  The kids not only had to pick a country, but had to pick a certain aspect to research (from an approved list), and had to get the project approved by their social studies teacher.  Chris printed these pictures for her from his trips to Italy.  She LOVED doing this project,and now wants to visit these churches!  Katie earned 10 extra credit points in social studies for this poster.

Megan's art fair submission.  The theme this year was "Bless the present; gift of now."

Katie's art fair submission.  Katie created a beautiful 3D ribbon bow on top of her present, but it was lost at the art fair, unfortunately.  It really added a lot to the picture.  Katie won 2nd place in Visual Arts, and also won a Sister Helen award (Katie's religion teacher picks her favorite submissions from the art fair).

Sadly, we could not attend the fair last night.  Katie caught the family stomach bug, so for the third time in as many weeks, we were stuck at home with a barfing kid.  Katie started getting sick at school yesterday morning, just as I finished up the final details of the science fair (I am co-chairperson).  Chris is out of town, so I had to stay home last night with poor, sick Katie.  The girls and I were soooo bummed to miss the fair, especially since they had so many projects in it.  But I'm proud of them for their hard work!  (PS - Katie was just fine today, and she'll go back to school tomorrow.  It was a quick stomach virus, thankfully!)

Auto Show

Well, I blinked, and January came and went!!  Sorry I was a crummy blogger this past month!  I will try and get caught up tonight...

On Jan. 15th we went to the auto show.  Always a fun day!  We got there early to beat the crowds, and had a great time climbing in and out of cars, getting freebies, and posing for pics.

Neon green "matchbox" car

Meg and Katie in a Fiat 500.  Cute little Jessi thought all tiny cars at the auto show were all Fiats!  She walked around and commented, "look at the yellow Fiat!" (which was really a mini cooper or something similar)  It was cute!

Girls in a Jeep

Chris and a pretty girl.  We had to send this one to Dad C!

Girls and a basketball car.  The inside looked like a basketball court!  Wooden floors!

Girls with a hamster.

Girls and a disco ball. (I had to take this pic b/c Jessi always calls the mines in minesweeper "disco balls")

Not much room in the backseat of a Mini Cooper

We took a ride on the People Mover to Greektown for lunch.  The girls loved the ride!  My favorite part is when it goes by the Detroit River and you can practically reach out and touch Canada.  There was no ice in the river this year - so weird!

Here we are in Greektown, for an early lunch.  We beat all the crowds!  We had a spinach stuffed pizza at Pizza Papalis (what a surprise), and got loads of treats at Astoria Bakery.

We went back to the auto show for another hour or so after lunch.  The Michelin man was nice enough to pose with the girls.

3D glasses before our movie/commercial

After we were sick of seeing cars, we drove to Belle Isle to go to my favorite place - the conservatory!  The girls had the camera most of the time, and they took dozens of gorgeous flower pics.  This is the only one I have of people!

Auto show day is always a fun, exhausting day!