Tooth Fairy Visits

On Tuesday, January 18, Sammy lost his first tooth.  His tooth had been loose for about two weeks and he would wiggle and wiggle it.  Finally right before he was brushing his teeth that night, he wiggled it lose.  Sammy was super excited for the Tooth Fairy to come that night.  At 2:00am, he came in our room to tell us the Tooth Fairy had left some money under his pillow.

R.I.P Venom II

Venom II

January 30, 2010 - January 17, 2011

Every night before he goes to bed, Tommy checks on his snakes - Venom I and Venom II.  Usually when he comes down crying it is because one of them has escaped but last night was different.  Last night, Tommy discovered Venom II had passed away.  Although I was slightly relieved to be down to just one snake (happy dance), Tommy is very sad.

Venom II the day we brought him home from Petco.

We buried him in the garden so he could fertizle our garden...the Circle of Life.

What the heck?!?!

Friday night, I went to bed with a headache.  Nothing in our house seems to be working.  I have tried to have a good attitude about it, because I am grateful that the biggest problem in my life at the moment is that a couple of my appliances aren't working.  But I went to bed thinking, "What the heck?"

Friday's Broken List:
1. Dishwasher - has not worked since a week before Christmas.
2. Washing Machine - stopped working last week...I decided if there is one appliance I need the washing maching wins.  The laundry really adds up quick when you aren't doing 1-2 loads a day.
3. Laptop - randomly shuts down, very annoying.
4. Van - 100,000-mile maintenance so that it works for (crossing fingers) another 100,000 miles.

Saturday's To-Do List:
1. Dishwasher - courtesy of our Service One Home Warranty we brought a new dishwasher, which my own personal handyman (Jim) installed saving us $100. 

Not only does he install dishwashers, he does the dishes.

2. Washing machine - Early last week, we started noticing problems.  The washing machine would shutdown in the middle of the cycle.  We did a little research and figured out there was something problem clogging up the drain filter.  That was definitely the problem, it was full of wrappers, small plastic pieces, even coins.  Apparently you are supposed to clean out this filter every couple of months; we've had the washing machine for over five years and didn't even know we had a drain filter.  We were pleased that we were able to figure the problem out without paying for a professional...that is until we tried to do a load of laundry and it still stalled out in the middle of the cycle with the same error.

Jim spent most of the day Saturday working on the washing machine.  He installed a new drain motor, which seemed to solve the problem.  We were able to do two loads without a problem.  Then on our third load it stalled out again. 

Jim talked to an applaince guy from Gabriel's Appliance in Avondale, AZ (we recommend them; they were very helpful).  He told Jim that there was probably something stuck in there again.  He said sometimes it takes a couple of loads to get everything out of the hoses and filters. So tonight after dinner he took it all apart again and this is what he found...

A key and a piece of wire (probably a paperclip used to unlock a door).  The penny came out one of the previous times we cleaned out the filters.  We also found a tooth from a shark necklace, a souvenier from San Diego, which we think broke the drain motor in the first place.

3. Laptop - took it to a friend on Friday.  He looked at it, did a couple of things, said it was good to go on Saturday.  I was very excited at the time, but unfortunately since then my computer has randomly shutdown again although it doesn't seem to be happening as often.  We are still trying to figure out the problem.  Any suggestions???

4. Van maintenance - almost done.  If anyone is looking for a mechanic, I know a great one.  Chris has been working on the van for about a month (and I mean that in a good way).  When we don't need the van, we will drop it off for the day and he will get as much done as he is able.  He has worked on it two different days so far, and we probably only need one more visit. 

Today I'm feeling much better about things, dishwasher works, washing machine works, van has always worked but it will be good to know that it will keep working, laptop works very well as long as it doesn't randomly shutdown when I am working on something.

On a totally different note, we did do one project that we wanted to do. To kick off the New Year I like to do a project.  So on January 1, 2011, Jim and I redecorated our bedroom (I should really say "decorated" because we never really decorated it in the first place). 

We painted the furniture black (love it).  Jim gave me a new bedspread for Christmas (love it).  We put some new wall hangings up (love it).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

May the rest of the year be a little easier than the first week, especially for Jim, he was very busy fixing everything...I'm sure Chris (mechanic) and Larry (computer) will be happy to be done with our problems as well.

Cabin + Snow = LOTS OF FUN

Last Tuesday (12/28) we drove up to the cabin near Happy Jack, AZ, in anticipation of the big forecasted snowstorm.

Right after we got there the kids had to warm up by the fire.  We just aren't use to this winter weather.

The snowstorm did not disappoint over the next two days it snowed and snowed and snowed.

Sarah

Sammy

Austin

Tommy (already acting like a teenager)

Tommy & Austin getting ready for a snowball fight with dad.

Rusty loved the snow.  He spent most of the time outside playing in the white stuff.  Every now and again he would come inside to see what we were doing (or to see if we were eating anything good), but he basically stayed outside the whole time.

Kids playing Uno with dad.

Austin:  "It is okay to eat snow as long as it is not yellow."

Sarah wasn't so sure about all the white stuff, but she ventured out a couple of times.

Sammy taking a break after trugging through the snow.

Icicles

We decided to leave Thursday morning (rather than afternoon) because it was snowing pretty hard and building up fast.  We were worried we wouldn't be able to get out if we waited for the afternoon.

The kids, me, Grandma, and Grandma Reid

We had to wait for about 30 minutes while they cleared the road.  A semi had slide and blocked the road and there was also a snowplow stuck (not sure how that happened). 

We were grateful we had 4-wheel drive for this trip.

Christmas Magic

Christmas Morning

The Stockings

Tommy's big gift this year was a Tim Duncan Fathead.

Sammy's big gift was a DS.

Jenny & Jim

Sarah's big gift was a DS.

Austin's  big gift was a bow and arrow set.

(Some of) The Presents 

Grandma gave Sarah a couple of Princess movies

Gloves (all the kids got some)

Remote control helicopter

(all the boys got one from Grandma)

New Camera

Kindle

Scooter

Basketball (I think he gets one every birthday and Christmas)

Jewelry and a DS

After opening presents and eating breakfast, we headed up north again to go to Grandma's house for the Christmas dinner.

Uncle Scott helping Austin with his new bow and arrow.

Aim and fire

Check out that cute skirt from Grandma and the Belle doll from Sammy.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year.  I love the excitment in the air.  I love the spirit of giving and helping others.  I love the traditions.  I love my family.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we decided to head north for the annual soup-n-supper at Grandma's house.  We weren't planning on going this year, but last minute we decided we wanted be with the whole family.  Supper was earlier this year, so we were back home before 7pm. 

When we got back home we opened all the "family" gifts.  Each kid got to open three gifts - a gift from one of their siblings, a gift from one of their cousins, and a gift from Grandma & Papa Hardy.  

For the sibling gifts, we drew names the beginning of December and then the kids earned money by doing jobs around the house or using money they have saved from allowance to buy a gift.  In the past, we had just given them money but I think it means a lot more when they are spending their money.

Sammy gave Sarah a Belle doll.

Sarah gave Sammy a Mario and Luigi toy.

Tommy gave Austin Bakugan.

Austin gave Tommy basketball cards.

Grandma & Papa Hardy gave all the kids a DVD.  It has been nice having some new movies to watch.

Sarah made this awesome hand print at preschool for Dad and Mom.

The kids also got to open a gift from their cousins on the Hardy side of the family.  And boy, they were great gifts!  The kids loved them all.

Alexis gave Sarah this ballerina outfit - tutu, butterfly wings, and a wand.  Sarah LOVES it!  She is so excited for dance to start up again next week.

Stephanie had Tommy.  She gave him some mini candy bars and a couple of rubber snakes (that looked way too real for me).

Zaiden had Austin and he gave Austin a dart board.  Pretty cool.

Abi had Sammy and she gave Sammy an art kit, which has kept Sammy very occupied.

Time for bed with thoughts of sugar plums dancing in our heads.

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped make our Christmas Eve extra special.