I like to write about my family a little more frequently, but we've been a little tied up. I thought about saying that we haven't fallen off the earth, but it kind of felt that way for a while.
Two weeks ago we traveled for a family wedding.
Last week we hosted our annual Pig Roast Fund raiser for the trip to the Czech Republic. We spent the week leading up to it trying to get the farm ready for company. Fortunately there is a lot of work for the party that is delegated to the mission team. Team members covered arranging for side dishes, drinks, tables, chairs, games, setup and tear down. Friday night into Saturday Steve was cooking pig.
Because all of this wasn't excited in itself, Paul came down with a stomach bug early Saturday morning. We put him in isolation in his room once guests arrived and I sprayed down the living room with Lysol. This was all a little heartbreaking because he looks forward to the Pig Roast all year long.
Shortly into the party, Petra started getting sick - all over grandma. Happy Birthday Grandma! Nuts.
Nuts
Nuts
Nuts.
Grandma went home, changed clothes, cleaned up, came back and enjoyed some food and company and then took over for me watching Paul and Petra in their rooms. Petra threw up on her again.
Fortunately while I was diverted, Julia played the part of gracious hostess and ran around talking to everybody. Steve said that girl did not sit still all evening.
Late Sunday night Julia started getting ill.
Early Wednesday morning it hit Steve.
It finally took me down on Thursday.
So far, we have spent this weekend washing bedding and trying to recover the house. It's good to be back to a place where I can sit and write again.
Can we be done for a while?
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Wedding in the Pinkie
Two weeks ago we traveled up into the pinkie finger of Michigan for cousin Allison's wedding. We stocked up Tiny (the suburban) with snacks, toys, books, books on CD and luggage and took the whole day to make the trip.
The kids traveled really well. We stopped as necessary and Steve had the insightful idea of planning a stop just before nap time at Cabela's. He was interested in checking out a couple of items and he knew the kids would be intrigued by the extensive collection of stuffed big game and the aquariums. It was almost like a trip to the zoo - except the animals were, well, um... not moving. Paul, Julia and Petra all enjoyed it and they stretched their legs before the next long leg of the journey.
We stayed at a hotel Sutton's Bay and had a picnic supper at the beach. Julia stuck her feet in the really cold water of the bay. Petra tried stepping into the water, but found that too intimidating. So she sat down on the wet sand and scooted closer to stick her toes in the water. Her bottom was a little wet and sandy when it was done. She spent most of the rest of our time on the beach chasing seagulls.
I could tell it was precious to Steve to see his cousins, aunts and uncles again. Uncle Paul, who officiated our wedding, also led his daughter's wedding. Two of Steve's aunts, sisters, discovered that they had picked out the exact same outfit for the wedding. They all had a good laugh over that. Steve caught up with the cherry farmer he had worked for one summer before college. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my three little nippers dressed up in special wedding clothes and then careening across an outdoor porch with some other children during the reception.
When the DJ for the reception did a sound check he also tested out his lights for the dance floor. Several of the children, including Paul, Julia, and Petra thought it was really fun to dance in the lights. So after the meal, they waited anxiously for a chance to dance in the lights again. It was getting late for them and first there were a number of other traditional dances to do - First Dance of Bride & Groom, Father & Bride Dance, Mother & Groom Dance... They finally got to the Singles Dance and I unleashed the children. They're singles. I think we stayed for one more song and then it was time to turn in.
On Sunday stuck around just long enough to attend church in the morning. Uncle Paul joked that he had no sympathy now for people who say they can't make it to church because they were at a wedding the night before. Steve joked with him after the service that for a Lutheran pastor, he preached a mighty "reformed" sermon.
On the way home we met up with my parents for a picnic dinner at a park for Mother's Day. It was nice to see them and the kids got one last good run in before a straight shot home.
We finished listening to "My Side of the Mountain" as we pulled into the driveway and the tucked the kids in bed. Fun weekend.
The kids traveled really well. We stopped as necessary and Steve had the insightful idea of planning a stop just before nap time at Cabela's. He was interested in checking out a couple of items and he knew the kids would be intrigued by the extensive collection of stuffed big game and the aquariums. It was almost like a trip to the zoo - except the animals were, well, um... not moving. Paul, Julia and Petra all enjoyed it and they stretched their legs before the next long leg of the journey.
We stayed at a hotel Sutton's Bay and had a picnic supper at the beach. Julia stuck her feet in the really cold water of the bay. Petra tried stepping into the water, but found that too intimidating. So she sat down on the wet sand and scooted closer to stick her toes in the water. Her bottom was a little wet and sandy when it was done. She spent most of the rest of our time on the beach chasing seagulls.
I could tell it was precious to Steve to see his cousins, aunts and uncles again. Uncle Paul, who officiated our wedding, also led his daughter's wedding. Two of Steve's aunts, sisters, discovered that they had picked out the exact same outfit for the wedding. They all had a good laugh over that. Steve caught up with the cherry farmer he had worked for one summer before college. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my three little nippers dressed up in special wedding clothes and then careening across an outdoor porch with some other children during the reception.
When the DJ for the reception did a sound check he also tested out his lights for the dance floor. Several of the children, including Paul, Julia, and Petra thought it was really fun to dance in the lights. So after the meal, they waited anxiously for a chance to dance in the lights again. It was getting late for them and first there were a number of other traditional dances to do - First Dance of Bride & Groom, Father & Bride Dance, Mother & Groom Dance... They finally got to the Singles Dance and I unleashed the children. They're singles. I think we stayed for one more song and then it was time to turn in.
On Sunday stuck around just long enough to attend church in the morning. Uncle Paul joked that he had no sympathy now for people who say they can't make it to church because they were at a wedding the night before. Steve joked with him after the service that for a Lutheran pastor, he preached a mighty "reformed" sermon.
On the way home we met up with my parents for a picnic dinner at a park for Mother's Day. It was nice to see them and the kids got one last good run in before a straight shot home.
We finished listening to "My Side of the Mountain" as we pulled into the driveway and the tucked the kids in bed. Fun weekend.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Fun pictures that I have been too busy to get off my camera until now
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| Julia with some Easter prizes |
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| The new chicks came a few weeks ago. Steve and the kids acquainted the chicks with their new home. |
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| We had some impressively large mushrooms growing in the mulch. Wet spring. |
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| For mysterious reasons all their own, the children have decided that the nook under the counter is the best place for brushing their teeth. |
Exciting stuff - Julia
Julia has lost her first tooth!
The tooth fairly left a dollar coin under her pillow.
The new tooth was already halfway in behind the loose one. And she has one or two other loose teeth waiting to go.
Too stinkin' cute.
The tooth fairly left a dollar coin under her pillow.
The new tooth was already halfway in behind the loose one. And she has one or two other loose teeth waiting to go.
Too stinkin' cute.
Monday, May 07, 2012
It's not the water heater
I announced to my coworkers at the beginning of Lent that I was giving up the illusion of being in control.
An example came a few weeks ago. Monday morning I said to Steve, "The shower never really got hot. It was warm but not really hot."
By Monday night the water was less warm. Steve used his multi-meter to perform a couple of diagnostics. Results were inconclusive.
Tuesday morning he asked me to call the manufacturer to see about having someone come out and take a look. I had hoped to get some other chores done that morning, but agreed that being able to take a hot shower was a priority. It turned out that we only had a partial warranty at that point. The nice lady on the phone said it sounded like our upper thermostat or lower heating element was out. She e-mailed us a set of diagnostic tests to determine which part was dead. I thought, "I'm an engineer. Surely I can handle this.) Then I could call her back and she would overnight the parts to us.
Simple right?
Steve was at work, but I e-mailed him the diagnostic tests too. He looked at them with me and told me where to find his multi-meter.
I am embarrassed to say that although I have been a mechanical engineer for over 10 years I had never used a multi-meter before. I walked through the diagnostic tests, which seemed to be indicating that both the thermostat and the heating element were out. That didn't make sense to me.
I called Steve who agreed that my results didn't make sense. To make sure I was using the multi-meter correctly he suggested that I stick the prongs of the multi-meter into an electric outlet. Now, my mommy never told me NEVER EVER to stick stuff into electric outlets. Nevertheless I tried it out and nobody died, nothing broke, and yes, I was using the multi-meter properly.
(All this time Julia and Petra were engaging in self directed play [read running feral] upstairs. At some point Julia decided to fix a snack for the two of them.)
The water heater was giving us some weird readings. We ended up calling in a plumber for diagnosis. He came out very promptly and showed me what he was doing. If you need a local plumber, we've got one we can recommend.
They reassured us that the problem was not with the water heater.
Okay.
Steve came home at lunch time. Since we knew the problem was not with the water heater itself, Steve started tracing the electric lines. On its way to the breaker box the line went through a junction box, which was also a fuse box. The wire split so that the hot line went through one fuse and the neutral line went through another. The fuse on the neutral line had blown. Steve was able to take the fuse box out of the line and reconnect the water heater without even making a trip to the hardware store.
Hot showers for all.
Steve is my hero.
STEVE HERO UPDATE: Today Steve is taking off from work to do some plumbing. Something about a busted and leaking valve under the downstairs toilet and if you are going to replace the old valve you really ought to replace the rusty leaking iron pipes in the tiny crawl space that lead to the valve.
An example came a few weeks ago. Monday morning I said to Steve, "The shower never really got hot. It was warm but not really hot."
By Monday night the water was less warm. Steve used his multi-meter to perform a couple of diagnostics. Results were inconclusive.
Tuesday morning he asked me to call the manufacturer to see about having someone come out and take a look. I had hoped to get some other chores done that morning, but agreed that being able to take a hot shower was a priority. It turned out that we only had a partial warranty at that point. The nice lady on the phone said it sounded like our upper thermostat or lower heating element was out. She e-mailed us a set of diagnostic tests to determine which part was dead. I thought, "I'm an engineer. Surely I can handle this.) Then I could call her back and she would overnight the parts to us.
Simple right?
Steve was at work, but I e-mailed him the diagnostic tests too. He looked at them with me and told me where to find his multi-meter.
I am embarrassed to say that although I have been a mechanical engineer for over 10 years I had never used a multi-meter before. I walked through the diagnostic tests, which seemed to be indicating that both the thermostat and the heating element were out. That didn't make sense to me.
I called Steve who agreed that my results didn't make sense. To make sure I was using the multi-meter correctly he suggested that I stick the prongs of the multi-meter into an electric outlet. Now, my mommy never told me NEVER EVER to stick stuff into electric outlets. Nevertheless I tried it out and nobody died, nothing broke, and yes, I was using the multi-meter properly.
(All this time Julia and Petra were engaging in self directed play [read running feral] upstairs. At some point Julia decided to fix a snack for the two of them.)
The water heater was giving us some weird readings. We ended up calling in a plumber for diagnosis. He came out very promptly and showed me what he was doing. If you need a local plumber, we've got one we can recommend.
They reassured us that the problem was not with the water heater.
Okay.
Steve came home at lunch time. Since we knew the problem was not with the water heater itself, Steve started tracing the electric lines. On its way to the breaker box the line went through a junction box, which was also a fuse box. The wire split so that the hot line went through one fuse and the neutral line went through another. The fuse on the neutral line had blown. Steve was able to take the fuse box out of the line and reconnect the water heater without even making a trip to the hardware store.
Hot showers for all.
Steve is my hero.
STEVE HERO UPDATE: Today Steve is taking off from work to do some plumbing. Something about a busted and leaking valve under the downstairs toilet and if you are going to replace the old valve you really ought to replace the rusty leaking iron pipes in the tiny crawl space that lead to the valve.
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