he can go from sweet to sassy in a flash!


I asked him to kiss her on the head and this is what I got!...that's Deagan for ya!

Sunday @ The Carter's

Lazy, Lazy, Yucky, Rainy Sunday!
Just chillin' at home:)
Taking naps, reorganizing closets, watching movies and getting some photoshop done:)

Anniversary Tradition

Jeffery knows that I love pink gerber daisies and always gets them for me. The ones grown in California put these to shame! But I love them anyway:)

Just a little morning pj fun!

Superbowl Fun

We went to a superbowl party at Melissa's house and the kids decided to paint their faces to get into the spirit. Olivia chose pink!

FIVE AMAZING YEARS!!!!!

Ok, so I'll admit, it's a terrible picture and you can hardly read it, but this is what I could snap while backing out of the driveway taking Olivia to school.
My wonderful husband wrote with HOT PINK spray paint across our front lawn, "5 amazing years Happy Anniversary!"
It's awesome. He's crazy! But absolutely wonderful:)
p.s.- thanks for setting the standard ryan!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY from...

She signed her own name to 32 Valentines for all of her friends at Preschool this afternoon. She was quite proud of herself:)

HANNAH MONTANA

A few weeks ago, my mom took Olivia and I to see the 3D Hannah Montana movie. IT ROCKED!!!!!!! The 3D effects are super cool and I can't wait for more things to come out! Do you like our glasses?

My Weekend at Adam and Brynn's

This weekend Olivia and I headed over to my cousin Adam and Brynn's house over on the west side of the state. We drove in on Friday night to hang out a bit and then do a Portrait Party on Saturday. Well friday night, after I arrived at their house, I discovered we had a VERY flat tire. It felt a little wobbly, but I had no idea it was getting right down to the rim! Adam (poor cold wet Adam) tried to change it for so long in the snowy street, but we had no luck! The AAA guy came and tried too, but the spare was stuck up in there so hard it wasn't budging. We were just a street over, but the tow-truck towed us home anyway. Adam was kind enough to take my tire in the next day and have a new one put on. What bad luck! Can it STOP already?
Aside from that hiccup, we had a GREAT weekend.
Late Friday, after the fiasco, we took Olivia glow bowling. It was SO MUCH FUN. She was radiant. She loved every single second of it. She was rocking her Hannah Montana T-shirt and grooving to the music. She did really well bowling too!
Saturday, Brynn hosted a Portrait Party at her house and invited a bunch of her friends with kids. We brought our bunny Penguin and did Easter pictures with her. She was a rockstar. We did eight kids and were working solid until well after 6pm. But it all went fabulous and we got some amazing pictures out of it!
We were not planning on spending the night on Friday, but it was just too late to drive home after everyone left...so we stayed.
Today, Sunday, we loaded up and drove home. The roads were SO bad. They get a ton of lake-effect snow over there and they were getting pounded. I was going 30 mph for the first hour of driving in white out conditions. I think I lost a good eight of an inch off of my teeth from gritting them. And there were cars in the ditch everywhere. It was the worst I've driven in, well in a few years!
This afternoon Jeff's parents came down and met us for lunch. It was nice to see them, as we really hadn't since Christmas. The kids loved having them visit.
Now the weekend is done and we are exhausted. Deagan was at my parents house saturday and sick, Olivia was not feeling up to par either and now Jeff has fevers that come and go.
So, as another week starts, here we go again!
That's The Carter Family for ya!

It went ok.

Well the adjustor came (an hour late through ten inches of snow) and was a really nice guy. He was here for two hours measuring, drawing diagrams, and poking the walls to see what was dry and what was not. We ended up with an ok result.
We are getting all new flooring on the main floor- carpet(or hardwood;), tile in the bathroom, and closet. New paint on all walls in the living room. And the carpet and stairs steamed going upstairs to the second floor.
The bathroom and closet on the main floor will all get top to bottom new drywall and paint.
The stairs going down to the basement will be steamed and a portion of the walls replaced.
The basement will get the carpet stretched, new pad, and steamed. (not replaced)
The ceiling will be half replaced in the basement. All new paint in the stairs and basement. And the kids cubby (which I am still fighting to have the drywall replaced in there), as for now- just new paint.
I think that's it....
so we are EXTREMELY happy about new flooring on the main floor. so-so about keeping the carpet in the basement. and not so happy about some of the drywall being left to just dry. can anyone say MOLD. hmm.
We'll see.
I'll keep you updated!
t

Insurance Adjustor

The insurance adjustor is coming today to assess the damage.
WISH US LUCK!!!!!

The Frozen Pipe

This is the frozen pipe that we cut out of the closet for the SECOND time, in the same place. I had never actually seen a frozen pipe before (well, now I've seen four)!

this is what came out of the bathroom ceiling when we poked through the drywall.
the basement stairs going down, the right wall is soaked as well as the whole ceiling going down.

This is the main hallway heading towards the garage, kitchen is on your left and bathroom on right.
this is the main living room
this is the corner of the hallway and the livingroom

It was a nice trampoline....

It appears that hurricane katrina would like to haunt us a little more. We had 50mph winds with the last storm and this is how we found our trampoline. Jeff actually had to cut it out of the tree...and it now has NO netting at all, so the kids can't go on it:(

A New Look

I've decided that after THREE years, the blog needed a new look. So I changed it. It's a little rough on the eyes at first, but then you get used to it. I kind of like it...but I'm going to search for a better one.
:)

It happened again!

Sorry for no posts in a few days! We had THREE more pipes burst in TWO days and our house FLOODED again....this time WORSE than the first time.
it's been quite a year.
I've got pictures to post, but first I have to re-collect my mind and get us a little grounded!

comment...

No one comments anymore:(
I know you all read it...I see the counter rise and I hear you all talking about my posts.
Don't be affraid to comment!
I LOVE to hear what you have to say:)
t

Olivia and her curls

When Olivia gets out of the bathtub she has the most beautiful curls. They hardly last through the night being slept on and mostly end up in a wave. But when they are there, they are BEAUTIFUL and I love them:)

Little Rascal

Deagan has issues lately with sleeping in his bed. He refuses. For FOUR weeks strait. Since the New Year. You'll tuck him in, make sure he's asleep and BAM, he's out of bed and on the floor in front of his door. He sleeps ON THE FLOOR. With one eye sideways so he can see out the crack. He waits for a foot to pass by, or a light to turn on and then he screams and whines for you to get him out.
Don't you think it would be a little uncomfortable? I mean your face mashed into the carpet. No blanket. No pillow. On the hard floor. Well Deagan doesn't think so!
In this picture he is fast asleep on his floor with his little fingers sticking out from under the door.

Walking in water?

Nahh, just a frozen pond with melting water on top!

When it was warm

When it was warm outside

In the second week of January, when it was in the high 50s, and Olivia was at school, Deagan and I went to the park.

When we were sick

One day last week when we were sick, Deagan fell asleep in his highchair during lunch. So I did what any good mother would do- left him there and took a picture:)

Olivia at School

I pulled up to Olivia's Preschool a few weeks ago to pick her up, and found the kids coming in from the outdoors. She was the "line leader" for the day:)

Latest Family Photo

It's not very often you get all four of us in a picture together, so I thought I'd post this! It was taken this past Sunday at my friend Nicole's son, Dominic's, 2nd bday party. And no, we didn't have another baby (although olivia would love it) it's Nicole's daughter Helena:)

Katrina II?

The tiney tiny split in the little pipe that caused all of the damage!
This is the after picture of the carpet in the basement, the stairs and the landing are what is taking the longest to dry out.
The bowing basement ceiling...getting dry.
Jeff looking at the closet where it happened, the ceramic tile is saturated and not drying too well.
all of our wet "stuff" that we threw on the front porch! It turned the porch and the stairs into a sheet of ice. Kind of reminded me of that scene in Home Alone.

Drying out

Well the carpet dryers came as scheduled and set up 6 jumbo jet fans and two dehumidifiers. It sounds like we live in an airport. better yet- sounds like you are trapped in a kids bounce house all day and your ears never quite pop!
We are not sure yet the extent of the damage. They won't talk about it or evaluate it until it's all dry. They say the carpet can be salvaged. They plan to dry it out and then steam it...which seems a little gross to me. I know it will be as clean as they can get it, but is that enough? ewe.
Yesterday they brought out a huge sucker mat type thing to place on our ceramic tile. It's got this really high pitch wine to it and makes your ears ring!
It should all be gone by Friday...
... and then the remodeling starts!

H2-O-Shit

So today was a normal day. Olivia went to school this morning, Jeff dropped her off on his way to work. Deagan and I cleaned the house (what good that did now) and then went to pick her up. We got her, drove home, at lunch and they were about to go down for a nap when I heard a HELLaious noise....
A pipe had burst right in the middle of our house, under the kids' bathroom- in between the first and second floor. I could hear a waterfall flowing down the walls. I was actually sitting upstairs right next to it when it happened. But I couldn't see any water because the wonders of gravity pulled it all down.
I ran downstairs and our front closet was OVERFLOWING with water. Lots of water. More water than I have EVER seen in a home. Lots. and Lots of water.
So I frantically ran upstairs and grabbed my cell phone. I knew I had to turn off the main water valve, but I had no clue where it was...or what I was looking for necessarily!
I called Jeff. No answer. I called my Dad. No answer. My mom. No answer. My grandpa. No answer. Finally I call my friend Mark and got him on the phone.
By this point the water was pouring down like a waterfall, making a small lake in front of the front door, and dripping out onto the front porch. He had me run downstairs to find the valve and it was pouring out like a waterfall. The ceiling looked like a mushroom that you'd find at a kiddie water park! All of the lights were dripping like faucets.
We found the valve, shut off the water and just like that it was done. The water continued to drip for about a half hour, draining through the ceiling and all the way to the basement.
It's gross. It's squishy...very squishy. Everywhere. The basement carpet and ceiling is completely ruined. And who knows about the drywall between the upstairs and the basement that made the lucky path of water.
Dad came over and cut a hole in the closet's ceiling and found the pipe. It had split lengthwise...maybe frozen. Maybe a fluke, who knows. But this little tiny thing sure caused ALOT of damage. More water than I have ever seen at one time, inside a house!
Mark came over tonight and patched the pipe so we have water again.

The insurance company said (at 4:30) that they would have a water extraction/clean-up crew out here within two hours. I was impressed! Well that didn't happen! It's 9pm and still no one has shown up! The basement is sopping wet like a sponge. They were supposed to have brought out the big dryer fans and dehumidifiers and dry it all out. But no luck.
So now we are stuck, do we call a company on our own to come out and pay out of pocket, or do we sit here and wait.

Ahhh. the joys of being a home owner. I'm just glad that I was home, and Jeff was a half hour away (and not deployed). Because I guess it could have been much worse.

Oh yeah, and the funniest part was while it was pouring down buckets in our house and I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off FREAKING out trying to figure out how to stop it- my sweet innocent children were up in their bedrooms getting their BATHING SUITS on!!!!! Because they wanted to play in the water.
It's January. It's 7 degrees outside. My house was flooded and my kids were in a bikini and shorts!!!!!!! At least it made me smile:)

Crazy Puppy!

It seems we have a new puppy! Deagan is CRAZY and loves to fight with Maverick....including biting his dog bones away from him. Ewe. Who does that?!?!?!?

Feeling Better

So we are feeling better. After six days in the house we were all going to rip each other to pieces. We've watched EVERY movie we own, some twice. We saw every episode of Hanna Montana known to exist. I've made every "mushy so it doesn't hurt my throat" dish that I could think of. We went through three boxes of kleenex, two bottles of ibuprofen, two bags of cough drops, I don't know how many boxes of mac 'n cheese (it really does make you feel better)...and last but not least hours of naps together:)
Being sick isn't all that bad, after all you get to spend lots of time together. Ok, I lied, it is bad. It's miserable listening to your babies scream knowing that you can't do anything to help them other than to hold them.
I waited until day five to take them to the doctor. Olivia was sitting on the exam table with a 103.5 fever and a barking cough...only to be sent home with a "virus." That is horrible. It's a slap in the face, although it might be a reality, it's a terrible one. I want answers. I want help. I want a cure, not to be told it's a virus and to go home and ride it out. Riding it out SUCKS!
Well then a day later, magically we are better. My mom braved the mystery virus and came over with new movies, food, and blankets. I washed all of our sheets and wa-la...we are better.
Now had I not gone to the doctor on day five and been told "it will pass" would it have passed?

ok, there's my rant. I hate being sick. But now we are getting better.

birthday counters

FINALLY...six months later I've updated the tickers at the bottom of the page that count the kids' birthdays!
(at least I did it before they turned 3 and 5)
ha!
t

Way to start the New Year!

Well Deagan, Livia, and I are all SICK! Yuck. Pew. Blah. Puh.
It started with Deagan getting a fever and then grew from there. At least we've had the graces of taking turns as far as who is sickest which day. Friday was Deagan, Saturday all of us, Sunday was me and last night/today was Olivia. She was up all night puking her guts out with a high fever.
Why does this happen? It's two weeks into the new year...way to start it!

No more snow! :(

So the weather here is CRAZY and it was in the 50's today and ALL OF OUR SNOW MELTED!!!!
It's warm, you don't need jackets just a nice sweater. And it's muddy and wet like spring!
What gives?

Deagan showing how deep the snow is!

We got about 16 inches of snow!
Jeff and I were just complaining that it just doesn't snow like it used to....well it did this year:)

Olivia in her snow gear!

Notice the front steps in the back of the picture, yeah there used to be two of them, and now one is buried in snow!