Overflow, Bursting at the Seams (a.k.a. Cracks), etc.

We have had so much rain the last week and the last two days that the water just doesn’t have anywhere to go.  We filled our pool about half full the Sunday before last, have not added any of our own water to it, and now it is full (to the top).  The ground is also very saturated in our area, which is very unusual, so the water that is going into the ground has nowhere to go.  Guess where it ends up…In our basement.  Most of the water is coming up through cracks in the floor and not through the walls.  It is not only coming up through the cracks that are around the outside edges of the house, but cracks that are in interior portions of the basement and have the garage on one side and other rooms of the house on other sides.  It would be one thing if it was just seeping in the cracks.  However, we can actually see the water spurting up like a fountain through several of the cracks.  Thankfully, not much of it is in carpeted rooms.  We had to empty our storage and utility rooms in order to cleanup and maintain the mess.  I know the situation could be much worse, as there are areas not too far away that have 10+ inches of rain since yesterday afternoon.  I’m not writing this to complain, because it has been manageable, but I just wanted to let you know what we have been up to.  I haven’t taken the time to take pictures, and I’m not sure I want to, so you’ll just have to image the mess.

Yeah for Summer!

I think summer has finally arrived.  The girls had a nice little picnic lunch on our deck at lunch and played in the pool this afternoon.  The weatherman says that this warm weather should continue.  I really hope it does.

Picnic lunches on the front deck (still a little wet from last night’s rain).

Bria after she jumped into the pool.

Bentley climbing in the pool.  It is easier just to take off her shorts than to put her swimsuit on every time she wants to get in the water.

A side note:

When we got home late yesterday afternoon we had a surprise waiting for us in our front yard.

The sign says “Chamber Yard of the Week”.  All of David’s hard work on our yard has been noticed.  Thanks for all the work you do David.

A Week and a Half

The girls and I spent a week and a half at my parents’ house.  The girls had lots of fun playing outside, going to vacation bible school, getting the camper ready, watching the kitchen get destroyed, and more.  I thought I would be better about taking pictures, but I wasn’t much better.

The first weekend we were there, the girls went to the farm with grandpa, uncle Nathan, and David.  I don’t have these pictures uploaded to the computer yet.

The first part of the week was hot so the girls spent a lot of time outside playing in the water.

Bentley’s first attempt at playing in the sprinkler: she just stood near the water and let it get her just a little.

Bria liked running through the water, and continued to get more brave the more she played in the sprinkler.

Taking a break from the water to explore the ant hills.

They played a game that they made up of running through grandma’s clean laundry hanging on the clothes line.

The next couple of days Bria spent going to vacation bible school with grandma.  It was only three days, but it was from 9am to 2pm every day.  She was mostly cooperative during class.  It was a good test to see what we need to work on before she has to go to school (still a year away).  I didn’t go out to bible school so again there aren’t any pictures.

My parents are adding on to their kitchen, so we had to get the camper all cleaned up so they could use it as their kitchen for the summer.  Nathan and David also worked on removing all of the cabinets and appliances from the kitchen to get it ready for the contractor.

Plenty of time was also spent playing at the youth center, eating out a several restaurants (due to my mom’s work), keeping up with the laundry, and my daily trips to the hospital for my antibiotic infusions.

Grandpa was able to spend some time with Bentley while I got my infusions because Bria and grandma were at bible school and Nathan and Davee were at camp.  Saturday was my last infusion, and my PICC line was removed after it was completed.  In the process of removing it my blood pressure dropped really low again and I just about passed out.  After a glass of water and sitting for a bit my blood pressure came back up and I was able to leave.  Sunday after church we came home, and have started back into our normal routine.  Getting back to normal wasn’t hard even after being away a total of two and half weeks.  It was great to be at my parents, but home is a wonderful place to be!

Not What We Were Expecting

It has been a long time since I have updated the blog. For a few weeks there was nothing exciting to say, but I thought after Memorial Day I would have something new to add. There are new stories and pictures, however, it was not what we would have expected.

Our plans were to spend our four-day weekend with David's sister in nothern MN. David's parents were going to be there, the girls could play with their cousins, and the adults could spend some time catching up. We arrived late Friday afternoon (before Memorial Day) and the kids started playing right away. I, however, was feeling sore. The long car ride made me assume that the aches and pains were just from sitting for so long. By Saturday afternoon we knew it was something more. I was shaking uncontrollably and my temperature rose to well over 104 degrees (that is really high for an adult). David's dad took us in to the ER were we spent several hours getting my fever down. After the blood and urine tests, they decided it was something viral that I could manage with Tylenol and Motrin. We went back to David's sister's and got a little sleep. I thought I was feeling better Sunday morning, but I was wrong. I was up for only a few minutes when I passed out, so it was off to the ER, again.

They ran some more tests and decided that due to my low blood pressure, high temperature, and elevated white blood count that I needed to be admitted to the ICU. That is where I spent the next couple of days with a kidney stone, a kidney infection, and a blood infection (this is very serious). (That meant the girls had several extra days to play with their cousins.) My blood pressure finally stabilized, and my temperature was running lower, so they put in a semi-permanent IV (PICC line) and let me go to David's sister's. We stayed that night, Wednesday, and I went in for my first antibiotic infusion then we traveled home. Of course, there were other complications: I couldn't get my infusions in any of the three closest clinics or hospitals to our home for a variety of reasons. Finally we decided that it would be best to stay at my parents', where grandma could watch the girls and they have a clinic and hospital. We met my mom along the interstate on our way home and headed to their house while David continued on home.

David came to spend the weekend with us, and my infusions have been going well. Today is the first day I don't feel completely exhausted. I am definitely recovering, but still have to be careful not to overdo it. With all of the help from both David's and my family everything has worked out quite well. I have definitely seen God's hand at work in the whole situation. He lined up the people and places to make sure I was getting the care I needed. He also gave me an extremely loving husband who was with me the whole time (especially in the hospital). Also, all the prayers have been a blessing throughout this experience.

After all of this I don't have any pictures that I can post of the girls with their cousins. We did take a few on David's cell phone that I may be able to put up later. I am trying to take a few more while we are with grandpa and grandma, so I should have some next time I update the blog.

Storm Chasers

Do any of you watch the show Storm Chasers?  Last night there was some severe weather in our area, including at least one tornado.  This morning when I looked out the window there was one of the crews from Storm Chasers parked at the hotel across the street.  I could see the camera crew taking video and several of the people from the show.  It looks as if they are still hanging around waiting for the next severe weather to strike, which is in the forecast again today.  In our little town this creates a bit of excitement (at least for me). 

This is the main vehicle.  There are also several other SUV’s that travel with them parked over there.

I have heard that various celebrities, athletes and other stars stop by our little town, but I have never actually seen any of them.

Mother’s Day

These cuties are why I celebrate Mother’s Day.

We took a quick picture before church.  It was already so nice outside that no one needed jackets.  By late afternoon it was 92 degrees.  A nice warm Mother’s Day.  It was also very relaxing; every one of us took a nap this afternoon.  I don’t know if that has ever happened.

We hope that all the other mother’s had a great day too!

Construction, Construction, and More Construction

The last week and a half have been full of (you guessed it) construction.  Our first project was at our local park.  Our city is putting in a fishing pier at the dam, and a group we belong to paid for and did the work to put in the cement it will be attached to.  We started this project last Friday when the wind was starting to come up.  David happened to be gone helping a friend in SF with a different construction project.  The girls and I, and a couple of other women worked with one of the city employees to build the frame.  On Tuesday of this week, we were able to finish the forms the dirt work, and lay the rebar.  The cement was poured on Wednesday.

David is at the way bottom of the picture.  One of our church members is running the packer.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get any other pictures with my own camera or cell phone.

As I mentioned above, David was doing a different project the day we started the concrete project at the park.  One of his college friends wanted to start framing his basement to finish it, so David headed to SF to help out.  They work well together and have a great time catching up with each other.  It also gives them some good guy time.

The next construction project was actually next door to us, at our church.  Our church has been needing a new parking lot for a long time, and several weeks ago we had a day of sacrificial giving and raised enough money (along with what we had been saving) to redo the main parking lot and pave the parking lot on the alley side of the church.  Last Friday, the church board and the city came and tore up all the old pavement.  The girls had a great time watching everything from our living room window.  Monday, the construction crew came and started the dirt work, and by Thursday, all the concrete was poured.  On Friday, the whole project was finished, and today everyone could park on it.  It looks really nice and gives the girls a great place to learn to ride bikes, or to ride their John Deere tractors!

Just as the project next door was getting wrapped up we started our next project—shingling the roof.  We had a couple of spots that were leaking (or pouring in, depending on the wind), and the wood shingles had started peeling up with the high winds we’ve been having.  David and one of our other friends was helped by a friend from town who does construction and has all the equipment (telehandler).  The roof of the house is broken up into four sections, and the men were able to get three of them done in the two days they worked on it.  Our garage is the only section that we haven’t tackled yet.  We have to lift up and support the extended trusses at the back of the garage.  The plan is to complete that tomorrow, especially with the forecast of rain.  Once that is complete, they can do the shingles.

David and John on the roof.

The telehandler, which was a great asset.

The weather cooperated as much as we could expect it to.  The wind wasn’t too bad, it was warm, and we didn’t have any rain.