leaky faucets and broken sprinklers....

What a week! I woke up early monday to a gurgling noise. The sprinkler box is under our window. Outside in my robe at 3am I discovered one of the valves was gushing water...yuck. So, determined not to pay 150 dollars to have it fixed, I took a look. The valve box is unfortunatly located on the side of the lower deck next to the house, wouldn't be a problem if the upper floor of the house didn't extend over it! So, I took a quick cell picture and ran to the sprinkler shop up the street. Showing the man the picture I explained what was happening. He explained how to disconnect it and told me to bring in the assembly so he could outfit me with the replacement pieces. Getting it cut out wasn't the hard part. The hard part was the replacement parts were slightly larger then the originals, so they would be stable. That was fun! After 2 hours of pulling, pushing, blowing with a hair dryer ( not I'm not crazy, it makes the pvc more pliable to work with, which is great when your cramming a nozzle into it with a hose clamp!) and finally realizing I could detach the rest of the assembly fairly easily, I laughed. Pulled out the entire assembly, screwed it all together and put it back in. boy, if I had known that in the first place!

Today, I got smarter, we've had a leaky bathtub faucet. It started as a drip and has gotten progressively worse. It's driving me nuts, so I thought...how hard can it be? I googled ehow.com and searched for tub leaks. Bingo! A play by play video from a plumbing shop in Salt Lake! With lots of play and pause clicks I managed to get the right tools, get it all apart, and run to the plumbing shop for the replacement parts...not cheap! Why, a bunch of rubber can't cost that much! Anyway I replaced one entire assembly that had corroded pretty badly, and replaced the washers and seats on the rest. The diverter, (to turn the shower on) still drips in the tub a little when turned on (from the faucet) But if the waters off there are no leaks. And I wasn't about to pay 20 more dollars for another post! So, as long as it doesn't drip while I sleep I'll call it a success! So, productive and crazy, I still don't understand why we will pay a plumber 150.00 just to come out and change a valve!

First Day! Yeah!

Is it me, or is the first day of Kindergarten harder on the parents then the kids? Haley has Mrs. Strawn, she is very sweet. She put her backpack away and went right to her name tag on her desk and was as happy as a clam! Yeah!

Of course we had to have pictures before everyone left! Shawn grabbed a toy backpack and lined up to, not to be outdone by everyone!

Here is Haley in her "school dress" as she calls it! I'm so glad it fits still! It was what she wore last winter too!

Mark is very studdly in his outfit, I told him that and he turned bright red! He wouldn't smile because the sun was in his eyes!

Ahh, here they are in their natural poses, with a stink eye and clothes jumbled! Just how we do it. They had a great first day! Hopefully it continues!

Please Excuse my toddlers profanity...

So, Shawn was sitting in the kitchen with me the other day and looked me square in the eye as I was washing dishes and let it fly..."mama, #@!%" I nearly wet my pants! Shocked I just stared at him, probably thinking I was insaine he repeated himself. "mama want &%$#" I'm sure he was starring at me thinking, Mama, why are you so pale? Realizing he couldn't mean what he was saying I picked up a small truck toy, "Truck?" I asked? Anyone who has children knows the look I saw. The, "you obviously have no idea what I want" look. "No Truck!" He answered. "Book?" I tried. "NO NO BOOK! %$#@!" Now, the word he was using can't be said in polite company and rhymes with Truck. Having NO IDEA what he wants I tried to change the subject. "Let's go swing!" That did it. He forgot. Good.

Next we're at the grocery store later another day. Serenely shopping with ease, rrriiiiggghhht... Okay shopping with ease as much as you can with 3 children who are all running, fighting, talking and screaming. I must say, I savor shopping alone. but it doesn't last long, soon I am running home wondering why I left my children behind. No today, today I wish I had left them! There he goes again, "Mama want @!!#" huh? "MAMA WANT $#@!" Then, exasperated he starts screaming the 4 letter bomb over and over and over again as I run through the store wondering what I had come for in the first place. Women all over we're giggling or scowling, men outright laughing. Shamed and scorned I left the cart and took them all home. Now I'm exasperated, exhausted and ready to put my feet up. So we put on a movie. "PLEECEE and #@!$, YEAH!" I look at the case in my hands, The Princess and the FROG! Frog, who knew.

Love

ER

Potty Training Day 1

So, because my son is prone to diaper rashes that rival leprosy, or because he has gone on the potty from time to time before and tells me when he needs to be changed, I have decided to potty train him this week. Call me nuts, call me crazy, call me shirley. Either way, here we are. Armed with several full sippy cups I derobe him and let him roam, "free range" about the house. I followed him like a hawk, asking if he needed to go. Running him into the bathroom every 10 minutes. After 3 sippy cups of fluid I'm nervous, he's cranky, and we're both ready to put the diaper back on before his little bladder explodes!

I decide to change my tactics! Always surprise the enemy right? Shawn loves Thomas the Train. So here we are, in the bathroom with the little DVD player and Thomas chugging away, hoping that if he sits there long enough he'll explode in the toilet, and not the carpet. Well, now he's screaming on the toilet....so, as a last resort I pull out the mini marshmallows, I promised myself I wouldn't do it! I made myself a vow that I would reward with food. But here they are and my son is peeing in the toilet...what can I say...food was always a good motivator for me...look where I am (15 lbs overweight!)

Who knew they made toddlers smarter then you now? Shawn has figured out that he only get's 1 mini marshmallow when he goes. So what does he do? Bladder control of steel....he goes one tiny little stream and gets one, then when he's done with that one goes one tiny little stream again and asks for another. Give me an hour and we'll have gone through a whole bag! Mommy can counter that! Now I insist on twice before the marshmallows come out.

Wish me luck! I'm going to need it. Pretty soon he'll get tired of marshmallows and this little game and Thomas and then I'll be in trouble!

Love ya all, from the trenches....

ER