Who's AFRAID of the washing machine?

Yes, I am afraid of my washing machine! I sit and watch it wash like its a newborn baby. I wasn't always this way, just after our little disaster.
A few weeks ago the spin cycle had been going a little crazy, I told Benny and he told me not to use it and call someone to look at it. I knew that meant to call someone to look at it and get riped off. I called a friend who told me to call the local "tinker" instead of Sav Mart who usually charges an arm and a leg to just take a look. So the tinker comes and tells me that he can order the part, but he wont do the work. While looking he cut himself and bled all over and said his hands are too big to get the job done. Hmmmm, weird. I then called Sav Mart in wenatchee and they told me $50 for the part and $450 plus for the labor! I then resorted to U Tube for instruction of how I could do it myself. Seemed pretty easy when I watched it and even Atticus was excited to help me.
So, Saturday morning while Benny was, of course, at the hospital, baby had just gone down for a nap, the kids and I were ready to fix the washer! It definitely was a little hand job. It only took an hour to take the old broken shock absorbers off and add the new ones. I was really proud of myself! I did have to detach a hose to get to one spot, but I put it back. That is where it all went bad. This hose and its part is what tells the washer how much water to put in for the size of wash your doing. I watched a "small" load and it all looked good until...Cozy came running upstairs to tell me water was dripping off the downstairs ceiling light. Yes, I did fix the washer, but somewhere in the process I didn't tighten the hose and the water was everywhere. So, to make a really long story short.....We have a hole in our ceiling and a buckled floor in our laundry room. We stayed 2 nights at our friends home here in Manson because the hot fans to dry everything out were so loud...it sounded like you were right next to an airplane. On the bright side, we have great insurance, excuse to do some extra changes in home improvement, everyone is alive and happy, and my husband still is smiling at me!
Photos to come soon.

Small Town Fun

We were asked by my neighbor to find kids to ride in a cow train for the celebration parade (Manson turned 100 years). She needed someone to also drive the tractor. I warned her that my hubby was not so good with large motor skills! (He has been known to brake farm equipment!) I bought $45 in candy and we were set. Benny ended up having way too much fun and so did the kids!

NAT Visits

It was so much fun to have Benny's sister visit! We did the usual adventuring.....blueberry hills, paddle boarding, swimming in the lake at "little kaui" & Manson Bay, chelan winery for dinner, sailing, ETC.
Natalie is so much fun to talk with! She is such a storyteller, you never miss a thing! We enjoyed having her with us and appreciate her hubby & kids for letting her get away so that we could get to know her even better!
Benny and I have now had most of our siblings come to visit! Between his oldest sister and my older brother and their families we have had everyone out this way! PRETTY AMAZING since we have lived here for 4 years and everyone lives all over the U.S.!!!
(though I still don't count Mike & Shelli or Andy since they came for thanksgiving! YOU NEED TO COME IN THE SUMMER to have it truly count in my book!!)

Back to School

Funny things the kids said after I picked them up:
"My arm pits were super sweaty all day!" ~Cozy
"Third grade stinks....(sigh)!" ~Atticus
Atticus had told me that he and a buddy at recess told friends they hadn't seen all summer that they were new students just moved here from Spokane. Atticus went by "Max". I told him I thought that was strange, but very creative!

Bittersweet

"By law children really don't have to go to school until age 7!" This goes through my head every year around this time. Especially after Benny gives the kids "Fathers Blessings" for a new year at school and I am left curled up in a ball sobbing. I guess I enjoy my summer too much and wish life was one Big Sunny Happy Party! (My time to live in MAUI has come!)
When we lived in Spokane while Benny did his OB fellowship (which was my fellowship in being a single parent) a mom in my neighborhood home schooled her two kids and really tried to get me in her club. I knew the love I had for Atticus was SO much that I would kill him if we spent the entire day together, so I decided to put him in school for the few months we were there. I remember her telling me that he didn't have to go until he was 7, that no one would come and drag him to school. The ideas of trips to art museums, water parks, and sleeping in went sweeping through my mind with some math and reading in there too. It was like I had just found out I had won something great! So I have kept that bit of knowledge tucked in my head...just in case. Don't get me wrong, it is BITTERSWEET, I do look forward to a good nap while the baby naps, running with only one in the stroller and no one lagging behind on foot, less fights, less messes, etc. BUT summer is over and with school means a bit of seriousness that I cant handle for too long!
This year I will send 2 ALL day and be home with 1. I feel for my friends that are sending their last child to kindergarten!
I will enjoy it I am sure, but right now it feels like I am looking for an exit!
(Photos of the kids first day to come soon!)

Calling All Stalkers

I have been tracking to see who is actually reading my blog. I will most likely secure it soon, but in the meantime I am wondering who are my readers from these places....South Carolina, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania?? Please let me know. Also, for those of you who are followers that I do know, leave me a comment so that I can keep you on the list or add you so you can continue to keep up with us!
xox
H

WORMS!

Atticus' back to school party......"How to eat fried worms?!"
This was SO much fun! Menu: orange worms (Cheetos puffs), cheesy worms (cheese sticks), brown worms (chocolate twizzlers), Dirt cups (pudding/oreos/gummy worms), and of course, FRIED WORMS with blood (hot dogs with ketcup).
It was an easy party for me 'cuz Atticus did a lot of the work...cleaning house, setting the table, and prepping the food! After we watched the movie "How to eat fried worms" (which was surprisingly very cute!) I told the boys if they dug up a worm in the back yard I'd give them a dollar a worm. They went wild and made a lot of holes in my yard, but NO worms. They each got a dollar for effort! Next was the scavenger hunt going door to door collecting a jar full of condiments to cover the taste of the fried worms. The jars were full of a mix of 8 different things and it smelled horrible....no one ate it or ate any real fried worms! It was a super fun party!! (b.t.w. COZY went to play at the neighbors and didn't want to have anything to do with the "BOY party", SCARLETT liked to slurp down the gummy worms...see photo. Daddy was at work and aunt Natalie was here for the fun!)
ALL rights go to RestlessRISA! XOX