Endure

The storm hit.
The branches crashed.
The boys screamed.
The ceiling gashed.
The family fled.
The insurance company said, "Are you freakin' kidding me?"
(not really but that's the image I have in my mind)

The initial view...

Somewhere under that mess is a hole all the way down to our living room.

And somewhere under that big ol' branch is a hole in our bedroom.

The tree that caused all the damage... it is seriously tall, though not as tall as it was a couple days ago.

Little Natey amid the chaos of tree debris.

Get your chain saws out. It's a "party" at our house. Can you sense our celebration?

seriously

Last night started out like a normal Sunday night. The boys were in the bathtub. Nate was watching the Steelers. I was doing laundry and making Nate a fun football snack. Then....

Max started yelling, "Dad! There's water all over the bathroom floor but we didnt' do it!"

Nate ran back to find water POURING our from under the toilet. It was already about an inch deep covering the entire bathroom floor quickly making it's way into the hallway. He turned off the water to the toilet and we looked at each other dumbfounded. I sloshed through the hall to find towels and my phone to call RotoRooter. Yep, the water line leading to our house was clogged (for the record, this happens about once a year. The difference this time was there was no warning. Usually we'll have a gurgling toilet and know things are getting blocked up. Last night the flood gates were opened without any indication). So, the RotoRooter man came, cleaned out the pipe and gave us the bill for the after hours charges. Why do things like this always seem to happen on Sunday nights?

Nate and I tried our best to get the water up. I used every single towel or absorbant article in our house to no avail. Nate went to borrow the Kelleys wet/dry vac and we pointed a box fan on the hall. We were not making any progress. The bottom of the dry wall in Jack's room was moist. Water was in the dining room along the base of the wall that backs up to the bathroom and out about a foot from the doorway. The baseboards in the hall were wet. We were still soaking our socks and knees while we were trying to clean it up. So I called ServPro.

While talking to the ServPro guy I asked how much it would cost. He said, "Do you have good insurance? What's your deductible?" I told him. He said, "Oh, it will definitely cost more than that. You need to file a claim."

The ServPro guys ended up cutting out the carpet in the hallway and a 2-3 foot wide strip the length of Jack's room. They ripped the padding out from under a large section of the carpet in the dining room. We currently have 6 fans blowing on the walls and under the remaining carpet as well as a dehumidifier in the hallway to suck up any excess moisture.

The ripple effect in the dining room. Kind of like ocean waves... only not calming or beautiful or relaxing.

Jack's room. Looks like a fun place to play, doesn't it?

Hallway angle #1.

Hallway angle #2.

Here we go again.

the Grand Finale

Grant's actual birthday party was at JUMP!zone. There was a huge room filled with inflatable wonderment that kids (both in age and at heart) could climb, jump and slide all over. The most amazing part was the party helper and that I didn't have to clean anything up.

Grant used the word "awesome" multiple times throughout the night.

Jack had no fear and ran from enormous jumpy thing to enormous jumpy thing... with or without help.

Nate raced many children on the "obstacle" course during the party. He lost once but has sworn the child who beat him to secrecy.

Adrienne and Chloe... big cousins.

Ava... little cousin.

Somehow the Hall sisters all ended up in black vests (the funniest part is we are constantly giving my mom a hard time for always wearing vests and here we are....)

Grown ups were not left out of the fun. PK got bombarded by a herd of kids pegging balls at him and was trying to make his escape.

The party crew... and Nate.

And, of course....

the amazing cake by Kathy. It tasted even better than it looked.

Grant was proud and ready to dig in to the volcano.

Happy Birthday, little guy. I am celebrated out.

Celebration #2

Since Grant's birthday was on a community gruop night we celebrated with our family the next night. We had cheese pizza, sunkist and a cookie cake to honor Grant's desires.

Grant ended up eating the entire midsection of the dino. Seriously.

For Christmas, G got a playmobil castle. While they were playing in Colorado, aunt Leah realized a princess was needed for rescuing (apparently, G was using a not very feminine knight to play the part of the princess) so that's one of the things she got him... a playmobile princess. Can you see the excitement?

Nothing like the pure joy of a birthday cookie coming out of your mouth during a fit of laughter.

Sidenote: After the boys went to bed the big people had a little Wii Super Mario Cart competition. I am infamous for my lack of video game abilities, especially with driving games. I'm generally in the pasture, off the cliff, ramming a wall that I can't get away from, going to wrong direction etc. Ask Pete; he'll verify. But, on this night....

Sweet VICTORY! Good game, Leah, good game.

Easy Bake

Max noticed an Easy Bake oven one day when we were out shopping months before Christmas. He excitedly asked, "Mom, can little kids really use this to cook?" I confirmed his suspicions and nothing else was said. Weeks later I told the boys they needed to make a Christmas list for Nana. At the top of Max's list: Easy Bake Oven.

Nana answered the wish which resulted in Max making dessert for us a couple nights ago.

The prep work for S'mores cookie delights.

Of course, little brothers wanted to be part of the fun, too.

Grant was really excited about chocolate.

Waiting patiently.

The final product.... disgu... I mean, DELICIOUS!

Grant... the birthday boy

Grant is officially 5. He has been waiting so long for this day. 5 is the golden age of officially being big. When you are 5, you are not a baby. You get to go to kindergarten. You get to use a whole hand of fingers to show how old you are. You can tell your brother, "Nuh-uh. I am 5 so I am big, too." Such a historic day in the mind of my growing boy.

Happy Birthday, my dear, crazy boy who has increased by prayer life. I love you.