April 17

Dad, Mom, Christopher, Michelle, Crystol and Jake

April 15

At least 3 dead after Boston Marathon Explosions - Two explosions ripped through the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  The euphoria of crossing the finish line turned into bloody chaos as two blasts rocked the end of the 26.2 mile trek.  The blasts have left more than 175 injured and three dead.  In the chaotic aftermath of the explosions, passerbys rushed to the rescue of the injured.

April 11

Over Connor's spring break, he and Mark went to tour a U.S. research submarine and a Soviet submarine at the San Diego Maritime Museum.

April 8

Previous

Parliament will be recalled in tribute to Baroness Thatcher, Britain's first and only female prime minister, who died this morning.  Lady Thatcher's children, Mark and Carol, said their mother, who suffered bouts of ill health in recent years, died peacefully after suffering a stroke at the age of 87.

 

April 7

Mark's 60th Birthday!

April 2

A lot has been going on since my last post.  Dad has been quite ill and I flew to Florida on the 24th.  Since his last congestive heart failure on December 27th, he hasn't really been well.  He was admitted to the hospital on Monday and was released on Thursday night.  He felt pretty well on Friday but by Sunday wasn't doing good again.  He has a doctor appointment Thursday so we'll see what happens.  It's very discouraging for all of us - especially him.

While I was there I had to take a picture of the  pineapple Mom has growing.  It takes over two years from the time the plant roots until it produces fruit.  Then another 6-9 months for the pineapple to mature.  Isn't it so cute?

Connor had last week off for Spring Break so Ryan came down on Thursday to pick him up and took him to L.A. to spend the rest of the week with him.  They went to a concert Thursday night, Ryan worked a little on Friday, and Mark picked him up late Saturday afternoon.  They both had a great time with the exception of when Connor upset the tarantula cage!  This week Kelleigh is off and has quite the week lined up with social events with her girlfriends.

Sunday was Easter so of course the Easter baskets of their youth had to be filled.  Mark gave Ryan his when he came down so I don't have a picture of him (which I know will break his heart).

I found these pictures from when Ryan was here for his birthday that I don't think I posted yet.  It's a shame Buddy doesn't know how to get comfortable ...

This is my maternal grandmother (with an aide at the nursing home) who turned 100 on January 1st ...

Kelleigh with her favorite horse - Luther ...

The house/flood project is coming along.  Hopefully the kitchen part will be back together by tomorrow.  The wallboard and painting is finished but there is still tile work, baseboard, and the pantry to be reconstructed so we'll see.  We are awaiting the quote on the bathroom portion to see how much of that we decide to remodel/redo.  The dogs are not happy about their daily confinement!

March 21

This afternoon Mark couldn't figure out why the dogs were carrying on so.  He kept walking into the hall but couldn't figure out what the deal was.  Eventually Chloe wouldn't stop barking and was sitting in Kell's bedroom doorway.  As Mark walked toward her, he noticed something on the floor.  She's a big fan of dragging many stuffed animals around but somehow this didn't look like one of them.  Turning on the light, he realizes it was a black baby bunny (dead of course).  There is no doubt that the Princess is the one who proudly brought it in and delivered to her mother's doorstep!

March 17

Because he has to work next weekend, we celebrated Ryan's 19th birthday last night. Because the house is still a war zone, we went to Oggi's for dinner then home for the traditional chocolate satin pie.  No candles you notice?  They are packed away somewhere in the garage so no proof this is his 19th!!  He was very thrilled with his new knife set which Mark picked out for him.  We had to do his pie/gift giving in grandma's room as the noise level is intense not to mention nowhere to sit in the main house.  We enjoyed a fire in the firepit for the rest of the evening.  He had to get up early this morning to head home as he started work at 9:00.

Kell had her riding lesson today and got thrown off again but no trip to ER was needed.  She'll be very sore and has some nice bruises to show for it though.  This is the same horse who threw her last time.  He got spooked by a pony and, despite her valiant efforts, she couldn't hold on.  Her friend came home from church with us so she could watch her ride and on the way there, Kell jokingly said "wouldn't it be funny if I got thrown today since you're coming" ... ugh ... NeVeR say those words!

March 15

Who knew a simple shower could lead to this?  I chose to go in later to work than usual so, while Mark was taking the kids to school, I took a quick shower.  While I was drying my hair, he came in and said the downstairs was flooded.  Water was everywhere - coming out of light fixtures, air vents, floor was covered in water, bubbles were expanding on the ceiling, shelving in the pantry had collapsed, etc.  While I called our flood company, he shut off the water and started damage control.  Within ten minutes Accutek was here and shortly thereafter cabinets were emptied, ovens removed, carpet pulled back as leaked through dining room wall, wallboard removed, then discovered the upstairs shower wall and surrounding carpet and walls were wet as well.  So the moving of all my stuff in the end of our closet began (with a few remarks from the guys about it resembling Imelda's closet ...).  Because of the dryers we had to move Newton's tank into the dining room so that was no small job.  Turns out the neck of the shower broke off inside the wall while it was under pressure.

The garage is now full of table, chairs, all china cabinet and kitchen cabinet contents, living room has the china cabinet and mess in it - it looks like a war zone.  Guess that bathroom remodel we were putting off will now be happening!

Here are a few pictures from today ...

I will say that the Behr kitchen paint was amazing as it was almost like a cartoon as it just kept filling up and the paint kept expanding with it!!

 

 Look how big the bubble is getting compared with the first picture!

 



 

Where the kids' picture was hanging in dining room...

Mark deals with the turtle tank while one of the guys and I empty the china cabinet as the wall and floor were soaked behind and under it ...

Time will tell if the wallpaper starts peeling off as the wall was wet ...

Kitchen cabinets were emptied, ovens came, and bottom shelf and kickboard removed as water was laying underneath ...

Back side of the shower where they capped off the broken pipe and carpet being dried ...

And the contents of that end of the closet now adorns the bedroom ...

Last but not least, the garage ...

Let the drying process begin ...

Guess I will proceed with my plan to purge which I hadn't planned to begin now  :o(