The Power went out!!!

so, like 2 hours ago our power flicked off, then back on...ummm, OOOooohhh-KAY
...then off, then on, then off, on, off, on...we started unplugging stuff so nothing would break!

Then off....and it stayed off. Well, if you've seen the weather at all, there are some crazy storms coming thru our state, it's been raining off and on for over 24hrs, everything is saturated, puddles all over my yard, it's more like a wet sponge actually...and we have a basement. For those of you w/o basements, they fill with water in conditions like these, unless you have a sump pump running every 15-20 minutes to drain your sump hole.

Well, sump pumps don't work without electricity...so I started to bail water. By flashlight. It was PITCH BLACK in our house.

Not knowing when the power would come back on, and full-well knowing that the last time our power went out, it was for a VERY long time.... my dear husband went off to the gas station (thank god they have generators and their pumps were still running!!!) for gas for our generator (thanks Papa John!!!)

I stayed home and continued to bail water. Probably upwards of 50 gallons, it was coming in just as fast as I could bail. By flashlight. It's still PITCH BLACK in our house. And since there is no bathroom or any other type of drain in our basement, when I say BAIL water, I also mean I carried it upstairs by the 5-gallon bucket to dump it in the kitchen sink. It was still POURING outside or I would have taken it out, but I didn't feel like being cold and wet.

We'd never even unpackaged the generator since we got it for Christmas, we were lucky last winter w/ no power outages. So, it doesn't have wheels or handles and the thing weighs like 80lbs....more when full of gas *snort* ...yes, we filled it first, and then moved it...we're idiots!

So I poured over the instruction manual by candle-light while my husband continued to bail...by flashlight. And after a very long time, we felt we were knowledgeable enough to start it up.

We got it running, then plugged in the sump pump...EUREKA, it worked! I swear it took 15 gallons of water out of the sump hole in 13 seconds....would have taken me another 10 minutes to bail it!

We high-fived and were so happy at our accomplishment when WWHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUPPP The power came back on. Go figure.

Guess what Lucas did today??

He learned to ride his bike with NO Training wheels!! He is 4 1/2 years old and such a big boy now!! He still needs a steady push to get going, so I get to follow him around b/c he stops to smell the flowers all the time! I'm certainly getting my exercise! And notice he's wearing a fancy new "Cool-Dude Helmet" thanks to Aunt Mary's prodding, now his little noggin is safe!

Spring has sprung!

Well, spring has finally sprung!! The cabin fever is officially over! We have lots of flowering trees in our yard, and the bulbs are starting to sprout! The boys have a vase on the kitchen table and they are allowed to each bring in 2 flowers per day, I'd like to keep at least a couple of flowers out in the yard!
I have no clue what this beautiful yellow flower is.....oh, and YES Dandelions are BEAUTIFUL flowers too!! :)
I would like to get my garden going again this year. I need to barter with the neighbor and have him till it for me! 2 years ago when we did the garden, I baked him some zucchini bread, maybe he remembers?? :)
This is a tree in our back yard (that's the neighbor's house and garage) and it has HUGE beautiful flowers. The petals will fall off in a month or so and all that will be left is leaves, there is no fruit whatsoever! I have no clue what kind of tree it is, but it sure is pretty!!
This is our apple tree, no flowers yet, but you can see the beginnings of them!

Abby's room Part 3...she's moved in!

These curtains are going just as soon as we find a suitable replacement!

Plenty of toys already!


And here's the finished door, closet, and light fixture.

Baby Jail!!

Daddy snapped this pic, he thought it was super cute! This is the only way I can get a moments peace to do a little laundry, it's Baby JAIL!!

Guess what Isaac did today??

He cracked an egg ALL BY HIMSELF!

And look!!! NO SHELLS!

Abby's Bedroom Part 2!

This is the door to the hallway....and Lucas w/ his new "SCARY" face...he's so scary, eh?? He's such a goofball!!

I wanted to post these on Saturday but we got a little busy. These pics are of the trim which is completely finished now! I will get some more pics up tomorrow, we are almost completely done and Abby is all moved in!!

A few pics of the kids...

I thought I'd add a few pics of the kids....

Here's the boys being goofy...well, this is how they NORMALLY are!!
PEEEK-A-BOOO!!!

CHEEEEESE!!!

Lucas is boycotting!

We're all working our tails off to get this room done, and what does Lucas do?? He snuck off to watch SpongeBob!! He's decided that he wants his room back. He's tired of sharing with Isaac. Except he wants to keep the bunkbed to sleep in, lol!

This is the master bedroom...it's next on the demolition list! I can't wait to get rid of that dark faux-panelling above the curtains!

In the bottom right corner, you can see the yellow bins, those are full of Abby's toys! And there is a piggy bank and a pink lamp on the floor behind the books, those are waiting to go in Abby's room too!!

We've got PAINT!!

We're getting somewhere...we've definately got paint. Lots of bright, bubble-gum paint! It's fun. Definately not a color I ever would have thought we would have in our house, but this is what happens when your husband goes paint shopping by himself! So, what do you think? I keep seeing this color pink w/ a bright, lime green (Thanks Lisa, lol!) and I really love it! I'm gathering ideas, but the husband gets the final decorating "Say-so" as
this is his little project room.
The big crack in the ceiling will eventually be covered by ceiling tiles. We're trying to find some cheap, yet pretty ones. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears!! The ones we found (and didn't even *LOVE*) at Menards were $17 EACH...I about crapped my pants! We only need..oh 45 of them! All of the trim will also be getting a nice coat of white paint, that's next on the list. We also need some ideas for the closet. I'm leaning towards just painting it white and installing some shelving. We kept the old door, I want to paint it white, then put a frame (pink or green??) on it w/ the inside of the frame done in that chalkboard paint. Maybe some magnetic paint somewhere too...just because it's fun!

Abby is getting a bedroom!

Poor Lucas was kicked out of his bedroom last summer. He was happy to go, it meant that he got to sleep in a bunk bed with his big brother, and he was doing something nice for his new baby sister. And the room has sat empty ever since! It's become quite the dumping grounds for all our unfinished projects, or things that just need a new home. So, we finally cleaned it out and started in on the walls a couple of months ago...funding of our little project ran dry, but we are finally back at it! Here are some "before" and "during" pics, I will get more "during" pics up as we finish, and hopefully some "After" pics before too long!


The "Before" pics are from 2 years ago when we first moved into this house. We put both boys into the master bedroom (more space for toys!) and we took the smaller upstairs room. The scary bears were too much for me though, I tore them down before I could sleep in there!!
This "During" pic is of the pink primer. You can also see the new white door frame behind my hired help...er, I mean husband. We bought a new door for the room and will continue replacing doors and trim as we go. You didn't think we would use the same trim, did you?? It's HIDEOUS!!!


Quite the cute little helper, eh? And Lucy is peeking out from under the ladder!

WFD~What's For Dinner? Italian Wedding Soup!

I love to cook...well, let me clarify, I enjoy cooking when I can actually cook. It becomes a bit of a chore when I'm also cleaning, washing dishes, disciplining boys, calming down a baby, all the while tripping over a dog or cat. I like to try out new recipes, so I will try to remember to take pictures and add the recipes with pictures as I make new foods!

Tonight I made Italian Wedding soup from a recipe I found on recipezaar.com. It was quite simple, the hardest part was forming all the little meatballs. It was yummy! Almost as good as the Campbell's canned variety! You can find the recipe here: http://www.recipezaar.com/14061

Pickles and Applesauce

This is the cutest video of the cutest baby in the whole world!

I'm Ellie

I'm a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, and a friend. I am a chef, a cleaning lady, a teacher, a nurse, a peacekeeper, a hostage negotiator (as in "MMOOOOOoooommmm, HE TOOK MY TOOYYYY"). And on the side, I dabble as a plumber, electrician, and painter. I am 28 years old and I am a stay-at-home-mom to 3 little rugrats. Isaac is 7 and in 1st grade, Lucas is 4 and Abby will be 1 in July. We are always busy, always going. When I have time to sit, I enjoy horror movies, surfing the 'net, and I've been known to read a book or 2. We're currently remodeling our house, piece by piece as we are able. I'm sure you'll see many pics of it in the months to come.