3.23.2014

Jericho said...

"I can't wait 'til I grow up!"

Another random kid questioned, "Why?"

Her answer? "Because then I can be a mommy!" :)

3.14.2014

Got water?

Well, we have water... just no hot water.

Earlier today Tim (who was home from work early for the day) headed into the utility room to remove an old fridge that was left there.  He noticed a small puddle by the hot water heater.  The water appeared to be coming from behind a panel high up on the unit.  He took the panel off and water started POURING out of the unit.  Suddenly, the puddle was anything but small, and spreading fast!

Tim quickly replaced the panel and turned off water to the unit, but water continued to stream from behind the panel.  We grabbed the shop vac to get the water off the floor and he connected a hose to the drain on the water heater.  Eventually the water stopped flowing.

We made some calls to area plumbers, but of course everyone was busy... and even if they hadn't been, it's the weekend so rates are time and a half.  Ugh.  (Can someone explain to me why these things always happen on the weekend!?)  Mr. B, one of our new "neighbors" who was involved in getting us into this house in the first place, stopped by and took a look.  He determined we needed to replace the water heater and offered to run and pick one up in the morning with his truck and then help Tim with the install.  He's done several installs, and we were (are) grateful for the help!

(Mr. B asked if we would be okay without hot water until tomorrow - "Everyone had their baths?"  Everyone but me!  lol Ugh... I was really looking forward to a MUCH needed shower later tonight.  I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow.)

Later, the unit started leaking again, so now the lines have been drained and we're ready for the new install in the morning.

The blessing in all of this is the fact Tim was home and happened to be in the utility room at just the right time.  God is good!!  The utility room in the one room in the house that has been least frequented since the move in.  Had Tim not planned to take the fridge out today, or even if he'd worked a full day and got to the fridge later in the day, we would have had a much bigger mess to deal with!

3.11.2014

We've Moved!

Okay, so you probably already knew that...  I had such great ideas for posting about the move.  Even had a cute idea for a photo.  It was something that would have been a great keepsake to post on the wall of our home for years to come, and something we could have built on over time.  Bummer on missing the boat on that one!

For those who would like to know our new address:

Loucks Family
(Tim, Kristin, Alex, Chase, Victory Joy, Levi, Shiloh, Jericho, Phoenix, Tiberius, and Temperance)
2802 Island View Drive
Saint Cloud, MN 56301-5923

We've managed to unpack and organize a large majority of our belongings.  There are still boxes in the garage (we did get enough moved into the house so one stall is available for our van to be parked in the garage), but most of those are items we boxed up long ago when we first listed the house.  We figured if we survived that long without whatever is in those boxes, we can make it a bit longer. ;)  It will be nice to have all the more "essential" items find a place before bringing in less essential things...

There were a few small projects that needed to be tackled early on -- a squeaky bathroom fan, a "sticky" door, broken vertical blind slats -- that have been remedied.  The cabinet knobs have been replaced in two bathrooms. One larger project currently in process is the relocation of the large "built-in" unit from the living room upstairs to the family room downstairs.  We couldn't fit the entire unit together because of the location of light switches, outlets, and other items, but the two end pieces have been fit together in our school area and will work wonderfully for storing our books and other educational supplies.

As a result of moving the built-in, we now need to paint two walls in the living room.  In trying to find just the right color that will blend with what's already on the walls we discovered the two walls are already two different colors -- what we previously thought was just light/shadow was actually paint differences!  I am excited to get the living room put together completely, so hopefully the painting can be done soon.  Organizing all our school books and supplies will certainly be welcome as well!

In other news, the snow has melted significantly over the last three or four days.  It's wonderful to see (and feel) the hints of spring!  Every day I've commented on how much our yard is "shrinking" -- in height that is! ;)  When we moved in just over a week and a half ago the snow was about 3 feet deep across the entire yard.  Since we didn't live here all winter there were no tracks packed down by kids.  I have a few kids who would have gotten lost if I'd sent them out in the yard!  LOL  I'd guess it's maybe down to about 18 inches of snow now.  I cannot wait until we see grass!

So, there's the update... We are looking forward to entertaining more now that we have the space -- both indoor and outdoor space!  If you'd like to come for a visit, just give us a call!  We'd be happy to give a tour and spend some time in fellowship with our friends and family. :)

3.06.2014

Deodorant

In case you ever have need of this knowledge... deodorant is non-toxic to toddlers. :/ May cause tummy upset or vomiting, but no serious side-effects. Sure makes their breath smell interesting! A special thank you to Tiberius for the lesson of the day.