One week later...

Well, the biggest news around here is that we've had two (almost three) whole days without rain!! Things are actually soaking in a bit. We can mow the back yard without the wheels sinking in mud. Of course, the mosquitoes will carry you away, but that's a different story. We at least make it out for our morning and evening walks. Any other outside time depends on whether there's a breeze to blow the squiters away or not!

We keep trying to talk to Caleb about the baby coming, but he doesn't understand very much yet. The most we've gotten was the other day when I asked him about his baby sister and he said, "baby in Mommy's tummy." That is the lone time he has made mention of it. Hehe...he does talk about "Mommy's big shirt," but I'm not sure that counts! And, with the attention span of a flea, he doesn't sit long enough to feel the baby move. Oh well, he'll be in for a rude awakening in 5 1/2 weeks (yes, I'm determined to go on or before my due date!!)

Anyone seen my Ark?

This month has officially broken all records for rainfall for as long as they've been keeping records of rainfall here....and we're supposed to get rain for the next two days!!!! I just thought I'd include some pictures of how well the street repair (done in the spring) went that was supposed to fix the flooding problems of the street that ours T's into. Keep in mind...when the cross street floods, it backs up into ours!! It flooded Saturday night as well as last night. Luckily, we got our basement window fixed last week....so far we have stayed dry. Thank goodness!!!

This is the cross street I was talking about:

This is a view of the other direction...I'm standing in my neighbor's yard. The water has actually gone down a bit by the time I grabbed my camera. It was another 3-4 feet higher onto the driveway.

This is the whirlpool of the lone storm drain that was actually working.

So, of course the firemen had to come out to declog the rest of the drains.

I took this while standing on our driveway. The "river" is actually my neighbor's yard.

And...like I said, when the cross street floods, it backs up our street. This is what our street looked like. That's our mailbox in the bottom of the picture. You can see the debris line from how high the water was before I took the picture.

Birthday Party

Caleb's birthday party went very well. Everyone made it safely through the rain...although I think boats may have been a better choice of transportation! Caleb had a LOT of fun. The burgers and brats turned out well...even if they were grilled during a downpour.

And, of course, Caleb was anxious to tackle his gifts...funny, after that first one is opened...interest wanes in opening the others!

You'd never guess Caleb and Josh are related, huh?

The cake survived through the blowing out of the candle.



The guys had bonding time over the toys that say "Some assembly required." Ahhh....those famous last words!!


BUT...it was worth it. We had to literally peel Caleb away from his new trains!

And, this is the odd part of a blog, I never know how to end it, so I guess I'll just end it! Thanks to all!!

"Ooooo, look at dat!"

That, ladies and gentlemen is a direct quote from Caleb as he finally went into the backyard after his nap and saw the new swingset. Yup, "Papa" and Grandma came up today to put together the playset. It was in the high 80's with rather damp air, but hey...why would that stop a determined group of people? The swingset made the long journey from Illinois in pieces on a trailer, and with some help from our awesome neighbors, it was carried to the backyard and put up.

Caleb was kept occupied by our neighbor, Brooklyn (Thank you!!!!)until nap time, and then the swingset was finished while he slept. Kelly was put in charge of taking pictures (go figure...the picture-happy person always gets a camera!!)



After Caleb woke up and played next door for a while, I got him in the backyard....and hence the quote "oooo, look at dat!" Anyhow, I'm also posting some pictures from the day for all to enjoy!

Funny thing...

I started this blog with the intent of weekly updates. Ah, how life changes things! I haven't been updating as regularly as I had hoped because I don't really have that much to update about! There's work, which I really can't discuss (gotta love those HIPPA laws!) There's Caleb, who I could go on and on about, but nothing big has really changed :) Brent just finished another weekend of National Guard last weekend...it could have gone much better than it did, but he survived and that's the important part. :) He's also taking some much needed time off this next week. And...that pretty much brings it all up to speed!

Plans are in full swing for Caleb's b-day party, which I'm scaling way down from last year. Man, I can get carried away! I think Caleb just may blow out his own candles this year. The nursery is getting close to completion. I think I'm pretty close to getting the baby announcements finished, except of course for the necessary details like name, date, etc. I'm approaching the 32 week mark! It's hard to believe we're that close already! Did I mention that heat and humidity are evil?

Caleb update...he can count to 20 (with skipping from thirteen to sixteen) and say his ABC's (with skipping from M to Q). BUT we're almost there! Scary thing is...he asks for his books by name and knows which CD he wants to listen to, ah yes, he starts his CD player by himself!