So Erin’s due date is June 7th. If the past two times are any indication that means we will have a May baby. Alexandra was 10 days early and Katharine was 7 days early.
May is a busy month for the Lopez Family. We have my nephew Andrew’s birthday, my brother’s anniversary, my dad’s birthday, and my parents anniversary, all crammed into the second half of May. What’s one more celebration?
So what do you our two readers think? Will my prediction come true?
Is it summer already? The Blue Valley School District says it is. Today Alexandra finished her last day of Kindergarten. She seems excited to be done but I think she is sad too and will miss her friends and her teacher.
The last week was totally a coast week and they didn’t do a whole lot. Still, its remarkable how far she has come in just nine months. When we were kids they didn’t teach reading until 1st grade and here Alex can read most first and second level books with minimal help.
It will be a lot different next year. Alexandra will be in school all day and Kate will be in pre-school Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Erin says she will miss them but I think with the new baby she will really enjoy having 3 mornings of relative peace with just the baby.
Yesterday was a busy day for Alexandra.
In the morning she had her first real dance recital. This was in front of several hundred people and she did great. Her teacher had her front and center on the group and it was clear that she was one of the best of the group (I’m not just saying that).
She was excited because she got to wear makeup. She was already talking about wearing it to school next year.
Later that day Alexandra had her first T-Ball game. She plays for the team called the Pink Lemonades. Witnessing that many 6 year old girls playing t-ball is quite entertaining. None of them quite get that when you hit the ball you need to run fast to first base. She had a good time.
With all the attention Alexandra has been getting lately I decided it would be a good idea to take Thing 2 on a date. We had dinner at Mi Ranchito (by request) and shared some Espinaca dip and then we drove out to the Arboretum so Kate could take some pictures. While there I got this great shot of her by a waterfall…
Its never a good sign to get a call at work from home right after I got in. It was Erin informing me that the carpet in the basement was wet. Very, very wet.
In a way we were lucky. We typically don’t go down into the basement in the morning but for whatever reason Kate wanted Erin to go downstairs this morning. Has this waited all day our troubles would have been much worse.
There was no question as to what the problem was. The previous day it had rained non-stop. With rains like that its usually a full 24 hours before the sump pump stops filling up. The sump pump is situated pretty much directly under our bedroom and at times can keep us awake at night as it turns on every 5 minutes or so to evacuate the water. I know I heard the pump kick on around 10:30 as I was going to bed. After that I slipped into a blissful sleep.
It never occurred to me that I never heard the pump the rest of the night. After all, I had installed that water sensor alarm a few months ago to prevent this very thing. Epic fail.
Sometime overnight the pump failed and the water invaded. The water alarm was fully submerged but not alarming (yes it had a fresh battery and it works now) and we had a mess on our hands. I left work and went straight to home depot. I bought a new pump (along with at least 5 other people) and rented a rug doctor for water extraction.
Once I arrived home and assessed the situation I was flustered enough that I wasn’t quite sure where to start. I got out my shop vac to try and suck up the water where the sump pump was just to try and get ahead of the game. the only problem was that the water was still coming in faster than I was getting it out. I had no choice but to swap out the pump then and there. It only took about 5 minutes to do. I didn’t have time to waste so I plugged it in and I prayed. Luckily, it worked and withing seconds the crock was emptied and all the surrounding water flowed back in.
While all this was going on we were trying to get all our possessions out of harms way. I used the shop vac to suck up any remaining water from the non-carpeted areas. The carpet was a mess. Imagine the most saturated sponge you can have and double the water and that was our carpet. Through the magic of capillary action the wet areas spread at an alarming rate. To head off the spread I fired up the rug doctor and got to work starting from the outermost wet areas and working back in. I was doing this for HOURS! All told I emptied at least 200 gallons of water from the rug doctor’s tank and the carpet was still soaked. I called around about renting some fans but they were expensive and only had one left.
With a business trip the next day I quickly realized that I was in over my head. I ended up calling in a water damage restoration company. He was impressed with my efforts but my equipment was lacking and the problem was worse than I had thought. The carpet was salvageable but the walls were wet. At that point our biggest concern was preventing mold/mildew growth.
A ton of giant fans were brought in to dry the carpets along with dehumidifiers and wall heaters. The baseboards were removed and holes were drilled in the walls where heater tubes were inserted to dry the walls from the inside out. For four days our basement was kept at 100 degrees, 20% humidity, and with tornado like winds.
The treatment was effective. We’re still in the process of putting everything back together and processing an insurance claim but we seem to be out of the woods. The problem could have been a lot bigger but thanks to Kate’s pestering we made it through.
Alexandra’s choir had their spring performance of The Amazing Grace Race tonight. She was very into it and had a good time.
What a great day to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior! We were blessed with absolutely perfect weather on this wonder day. It was busy, as usual. Our Vibe service at COR was expanded to three services to accommodate the anticipated crowds. Dan played bass in one service Saturday night and two services Sunday morning plus Alexandra’s choir sang at a different family service on Saturday.
It made for a long weekend of church but it was fun. We spent the rest of the day at the Thompsons enjoying a wonderful Easter dinner and relaxing on the deck. We managed to sneak a few family shots in between…
One word to describe this event: CHAOS! Here are the highlights…
Before:
After:
|
