Bishop's Believe It, or Not

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Ice, ice baby... Vanilla Ice, ice baby

This is simply a crazy winter. We aren't in the negative temperatures at noon anymore, but we aren't really warm enough to melt. So, everything has turned to ice. Trees, roads, roofs, gutters - all covered with ice. It makes for some cool pictures - but that is about all. The kids were out of school for 2 days since roads were so terrible. At this rate we will be in school till July making up all these snow days!

So, to pass the time...

We read books.

We made Valentines decorations.

We found a Rubik cube is a great way to confuse 4 & 6 year olds.

We freed Ian's mouth of its FIRST TOOTH!! (He got a whole quarter from the Tooth Fairy and a certificate)

And when we couldn't take it anymore we went to The Playground For Kids which has blow-up slides galore for the kids to run, run, run and burn off the energy they have been storing up. It did the job and was money well spent.

In addition to the ice causing everyone in Iowa to be a little stir-crazy, lots of folks are having roof leaks. The ice is making dams in gutters so the melted water can't drain. Water is a funny thing and can travel up. We have not escaped this. Our gutters have had ice-dams and we have had a few leaks in our kitchen and Ian & Jens room. So we have had buckets all over the kitchen collecting the water that has traveled up the roof because the gutters are blocked with ice. Todd asked around at work and they said we really just have to wait till spring - when winter is done, things are dried up totally, and we can have a better look. So, we were ok knowing we just had to deal with the leaks for a little bit. Turns out we won't have to deal with it too much longer!

We were all gone to various places all day Saturday. The last place we were together was at my parents house. From there, Todd went to work for the rest of the night because he has a deadline next week and is one of only two architects on this job. So, around 7:00 I walked into the house with the kids.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT....

Yup, the ceiling in the kitchen had collapsed! Lights, sheetrock, plaster...everything.

Jack: (GASP! - and in a loud whisper) "MOM! Wook what you did!"

Mom: "No Jack, I didn't do it."

Jack: "India? India is naaaaaughty."

Mom: "No Jack; it was just the water. The water made the ceiling too heavy and it fell."

Jack: (Looks at Mom like she's telling a whopper)

So I cleaned up as much as I could. I didn't want to call Todd and have him come home, or worry about it at work. He needed to concentrate on what he was doing. And if I am being honest - there was a part of me that thought it would be funny for Todd to come home ( I knew it would be about 12:30 - he tries to follow the letter-of-the-law and work up until the Sabbath day - and not on the Sabbath. So he will stop at midnight and then shut everything down and come home...; and once he is home he usually wonders into the kitchen for a snack or a little treat) ANYWAY, I thought it would be funny in his sleep deprivation for him to wonder in, try to turn on the light - only the light won't turn on (since it came crashing to the ground) - look up and ....you get the idea. I know, I know - warped sense of humor.

So Monday I will go find a cheap light to get us by for a while. Then when our tax return comes in we will be in construction mode...once again. We had wanted to remodel our kitchen...just in 8 years when we had money to do it like we want. In the meantime, this gives me a great excuse to camp out at my parents house and watch the DIDY network non-stop!

posted by Co-Founder #2 @ 8:42 AM 7 comments

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Many of our friends & family have called, facebooked, texted, etc. to tell us how cold we are in Iowa. You are right. It's freezing here! It might be -17 but feels like -35 with the windchill! Burrr, burrr, burrr! The weather was so bad that school was cancelled both Thursday and Friday. I love snow days. I have loved having all the boys home during Christmas break so I was glad that after only 3 days back at school, they were back home with me. We have been finding ways to deal with cabin fever and escape the house.

1. Ian got lots of art supplies for both his birthday and Christmas. He also used his birthday and Christmas money to save up and buy a camera. We got him a great camera off Craigslist.com. It was listed for $30 and Ian had $28. Of course we would have given him the two dollars, but we first made him ask if they would take his $28 and they did! He was so excited to A. have a camera; and B. that he bought it himself.

This new found thrill of buying with his own money has really taken root with Ian. So over the past couple snow days, Ian has been busy with his art supplies making gobs and gobs of pictures. He wants to have a garage sale in the summer for kids and sell his artwork to. He is even making multiples of some of his pieces so kids won't have to fight over them. One afternoon I came downstairs from putting Jack and Jens down for naps and found Ian had been hard at work. He had gotten ziplock bags and put a picture in each one. He enhanced the "package" by adding a little something extra. In some he put a rasinet, and in another he put a candy cane, or for the lucky girl or boy......a pair of Jens underwear! So, if any of you are interested in one of these one-of-a-kind, limited-time special packages - act now! Operators are standing by to take your order. Ian says you can buy them for 2-3 pieces of money. If translation is needed: this mean he would like coins...need not be specific.

2. We have also been baking. Jens and I passed Friday morning making chocolate chip cookies wearing mustaches. It was so fun. I think wearing mustaches while making cookies totally makes them taste better.

3. When Todd got his official arch. lic. in December, his office gave him a Visa card. He used a generous portion on a membership at the YMCA. This has been a lifeline when it is so cold and the kids need to get their energy out. The water is too cold for me. I like it pretty much to be bath temp, but the boys don't care as long as the water is wet!

posted by bishop family co-founder #1 @ 9:00 PM 7 comments

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Another day, another injury

I made a new year's resolution to begin and maintain a blog for 2010 at the constant nagging encouragement of others (Carine, Susan, and Stephanie...;). But I wondered what I would write about. Turns out we have had a couple just in the first two days of the new year.

1. After a tossel between our two oldest, the result was Ian slamming Jens' finger in the door. Since it was New Years' DAY all the doctors' offices and 'insta-care' offices were closed. Thus we started off 2010 in the ER to see about some stitches for Jens finger. We picked this hospital because one of our friends is a PA there in the ER. Thanks Mandy...I'm sure this won't be the last time:) Mandy declared no stitches (woot, woot) and just put some sterile strips on to hold the skin in place and we have been keeping it covered in massive amounts of gauze and tape to keep it from getting wet. It makes picking his nose awkward, but necessity is the mother of invention, isn't it? And as a side note, can I just add that it doesn't help that its on his middle finger. No joke.

2. Literally we can't stay out of trouble two days in a row. Let me give a little background. First, I can read a book in 2-3 days; so I generally check out several at a time. Because I check out 4-5 books at a time, and let the kids each pick out 2-3 each we have a library bag that we keep those books in. So, Saturday I asked Todd to return some books and movies to the lib. for me. He asked me to set everything that needed to go back on the table so he would know what needed to go. So I did. I took out all the books I had read, and left the 1 book I had not finished and some books that my aunt and lent me, to see if I was interested in what she likes to read, in the yellow lib. bag that I always keep next to my bed. Can you tell where this is going... So, I am sure Todd was in a frazzel trying to load up the troops all on his own, and in trying to be helpful grabbed the bag of books by my bed AND the books and movies I had set out on the table, and returned them ALL to the library. Yup, he returned the books my aunt owns /owned??? to the library. Please note the title of the book Todd is reading in honor of this post.

posted by bishop family co-founder #1 @ 10:41 AM 5 comments

About Me

Name: bishop family co-founder #1
Home: Des Moines, Iowa, United States
About Me: architect by day; mediator, cook, maid, handyman, driver, IT, entertainer,husband, father, and zoo keeper by night
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