What can we do now mom?

One of our errands was to pick up some new paint and brushes for mom. Well the boys insisted on painting after that. So I pulled everything out for them. They won't wear smocks so they had to take their shirts off! Gavin was very precise with his paint strokes and wanted to paint in the lines mom made for him. Trevor knew exactly what he wanted to do and told me what paint he wanted and where it was going! He even pulled out the markers to add finishing touches on his pumpkin and gingerbread guy. Trevor also insisted on making a few lines on his belly!

Sunday at the park

The boys both rode their bikes to the park. Trevor is getting much faster in his strider and Gavin says I can't keep up with him! We spent the 9 o'clock hour there then went to pick up grandma Joyce to run some errands followed by lunch. We kept busy!

Who are these big kids?

Frozen yogurt in October!

Visit w cousin Gayle

Halloween photos

Visit to the pumpkin patch

Gavin's preschool friends asked if we wanted to go pumpkin picking this morning! Sure. We hopped in the car with our snow boots and were there in minutes. The patch opened a week late due to the flooding in September. It was still muddy but not as bad as it could have been. We let the four kiddos loose in the field until the cars looked really small. Then we set out to find some heavy pumpkins to lug back to the car! It was a success. Once we got one in the car we decided the ones closer were just as nice. Gavin found the largest pumpkin he could and I heaved it into the car. We took a popcorn and water break then went to see the farm animals and jump in the bounce castles. From there we headed home!

Captain 'Mercia

Trevor is excited about his Halloween costume this year. I got smart and bought pajamas and a sweatshirt knowing he'd wear it. Now it's about all he wears! 

Our newest two wheeler!

Gavin got a strider bike for Christmas when he was two and a half. He really took to it that spring around his third birthday-2012. This year we knew he was ready for a pedal bike but he had to be ready to jump on it. We borrowed a bike from friends and started talking it up with him this spring. Daddy took him out on it a few times but Gavin wasn't ready in his mind. I started talking it up w him again a few weeks ago. Then yesterday on the way to preschool I said... Why don't we try it out when we get home from school. Well, I got him home and we did a five minute trial. I held on the whole time. We went in the grass and on the sidewalk. He said he was done so that was that. We told daddy about it at dinner.

This morning Gavin woke up and said he wanted to go out and ride. We went out before anyone else was up and rode for another five minutes. I held on the whole time and didn't push things. 

After breakfast daddy and Trevor went to walk the dogs. Gavin asked if we could try again. We went out and went up and down the sidewalk-as far as I could go bending down and walking that fast!

We found daddy and Trevor at Morgan and Riley's house. We sat out front for a bit then Riley said she wanted to go to the park to fly her airplane. Gavin and Trevor both got their helmets on and we looked down the sidewalk and there went Gavin. On his pedal bike by himself, pedaling! The neighbors and Joel and I all cheered! He did it. Of course none of us had our camera/phones with us but he did it!!! Woo hoo Gavin!

He rode all the way to the park then stopped to watch Riley for a while. I ran home and got my camera. Gavin was riding around the basketball court when we returned. Round and round! We ride home "the long way". Then Trevor got back on his strider and they kept going. They're both napping now!

Joel's birthday. Part 2.

The cake, compliments of our neighbor, Dawn.

Trevor in his sunglasses and uncle David's birthday hat!

Derrick, Kramer (John) and Max!

Grandma Joyce and Rickert!

James making ice cream!

Joel showing off his new shirt from amy and david. They thought it was ugly and would go with the style I dress my husband in. What are they trying to tell me?

A special hat from the Kramer family! Doesn't he look special!

Joel's birthday celebration. Part 1.

Photo recap. 

The rain. Part two. Joel turns 40!

The Beam's celebrated Joel's birthday with us. We were planning on going out to dinner but the clouds came in so we enjoyed dinner at home. Followed by cake and presents. The kids blew out the candles. Neil and Rebekah were called as Joel opened their gag gift. Denture cream, reading glasses and large print crossword puzzles to name a few items! We hung out and went to bed early. The weather report was finally in our favor. But we still had to get through the weekend. More rain in the forecast. 

On Saturday, Gavin and I got up and made breakfast. I think Joel and I slept through the entire night. If it had rained at all, we didn't know it! I had a surprise party planned. As far as I knew, it was still a surprise and we were still on! 

The Beams were off to the grocery followed by a secret trip to moms condo to drop off party stuff. We went to Costco the day before and already had other stuff hiding at moms! Her job was to marinate the chicken! (Thanks for the use if your whole fridge!)

In the meantime I was in the basement organizing the piles of stuff we moved frantically on Wednesday. Joel called friend Dave who is an architect and lives in hard hit Longmont. Sometime during the conversation Dave said he was sorry they couldn't make it tonight because the roads out of town were closed. Busted. His wife julia quickly called me apologizing saying Dave didn't know the party was a surprise. The cat was then out of the bag. Joel's grin said it all. Then he said mike slipped a few weeks earlier but he didn't know when the party would be. He thought it was Friday night but that came and went so maybe it was cancelled due to rain! Joel also said once in the past two weeks I had him check my phone for something and an evite popped up on the screen. Three strikes. Darn!

At least now we could prepare without being secretive! Joel took Gavin to a 4 year old birthday party at 2:30 and his party was to start at 4:30. The day was sunny and beautiful. Neighbors were venturing out to cut their tall, green grass!  We continued to prepare. 

4:30 came and folks arrived. We had about 30 people at the house and had a great time. Great weather. A BBQ and home made ice cream! Success!

After everyone left and the kids were to bed, we sat in the couch and it started raining! Pouring, again! Joel took first shift from 10:30 to 1:30. Now it's my turn. The rain has again stopped and it has been about 30 minutes since I last ran the pump. Weather report seems to say we are in the clear until the morning. Sun rise, if we see it! Signing off.  

A week of rain

On Wednesday September 11, the weather report called for cooler temperatures and rain. I don't know if we were downplaying the rain but... We got rain. I was driving home from Children's in it. There were some large puddles on the highway but manageable. Joel picked up Gavin and I got Trevor. We ate dinner and prepared to watch the basement window well for flooding. I took the boys up for a bath and about five minutes into it, Joel came up and said I needed to get downstairs ASAP. I pulled the kids out, got them dressed and sat them in front of the tv. A real treat for them. 

The rain had come. FAST. The problem window well was 1/3 FULL. Oh boy. How did it get that high that fast? It was starting to come in. The sump pump we had in the window well couldn't keep up and the unfinished basement floor was getting wet. It is a bit of a blur but we quickly moved everything to the other side of the basement. Joel had me call around to the neighbors. I left a few messages. Soon Ken knocked at the door then Mike with industrial sized squeegee and mop. Joel went out w a bucket and hand bailed.ile, Ken and I used the shop vacs and cleaned up water on the floor. It wasn't slowing down so Joel said call for help. I did a quick search on my phone and found servpro. We always see commercials for them and they are very visible in the area, kept hanging up on me. So I kept calling back thinking I had a bad connection. No. Turns out, the after hours person kept hanging up on me. She called back and yelled at Joel saying it was dinner time and she was a single mom trying to feed her kids. I hope after three nights of rain that she realizes this isn't the right job for her. 

After calling three other companies I finally got thru to someone. He said he'd be out in an hour. The four of us could deal in the meantime. The water only slightly got lower by the time the guy arrived w his pump. He lowered it down and we finally am started making progress. Mike and Ken both went home and the guy helped us clean the water out of the 1/3 of the basement that was wet. I got the kids to bed at some point during this, the guy, who was great, left and Joel and I began our new ritual. Pump duty.

I started. Joel went up to get some rest. Or not. Just as he got into bed, sometime after midnight the rain came fast and I called him back down. We were able to keep up w things this time but he didn't get to bed til about 2:30. I used the pump every three to five minutes until I turned into a zombie around five and traded w Joel. Gavin came in at his normal 6:55 time and the day had begun. I got up w jim and checked Facebook to see how friends had fared and noticed Emily said how crazy it was that school was closed in Boulder County due to rain and flooding conditions. How crazy I thought. Gavin's preschool followed the school district schedule/snow day policy so he was off. Lucky for us, Maria was able to take Gavin in addition to trevor. I dropped them off and went back home to continue our new ritual. 

The day was a bit calmer and we were watching weather reports every few minutes. The floor began to dry. Joel ran out to get a second pump so we'd be ready. he got the last one on the shelf! 

The city of Boulder got hit with huge amounts if water flooding the many small streams turning them into rivers. Bike underpasses were now part of the raging rivers. We got hit hard but they got it 10x worse. And the rain kept coming. 

I remember during our extensive home search 4 plus years ago that se listings said something about the hundred year flood zone. What was that? I was now finding this out. An epic rain that rarely happened but could affect homes along small creeks. Yep. That is what we ate experiencing. Lucky for us, we didn't purchase one of those places!

Day turned to night again and we thought we had everything under control. I made an early dinner. Prepared the kids for another non-routine bedtime ritual and the rain started up in force again. We were fine until the power went out. Yeah, insult to injury. I gave the kids both their flashlights and put them in the living room w their toys. Joel and I ran out w our buckets and started bailing. We couldn't keep up. I called the neighbors in a panic and in a few minutes, mom and her three kids came over to help. Morgan watched the kids. Riley was in the basement helping lower and fill the buckets and mom and Josh helped bail. It was only after Josh's three friends stopped by did we start to make a dent. The water level finally fell and the basement was still dry. They saved us!!! Their dad came home from work and found us a generator. The power came back on about an hour after it went out. Morgan and I got the kids to bed and everyone went home. Joel continued the evening watch and let me get some sleep. I took over around 5. Things had again slowed down.

In the meantime, it was now Friday September 13. We saw blue skies for a bit! Joel's 40th birthday! Joel's parents and I were planning to surprise him with a visit. They had arrived on Wednesday morning and were staying in castle rock w Miriam's cousin, Roni. They arrive around 11:30 w a knock on the door. I convinced him to go up and answer it. He was shocked! Success! We ate lunch. Gave Joel a well deserved nap And went on our way since the weather seemed pleasant. 

Baseball w cousin Jacob!

Lindsey, Brad and Jake

What would a visit be without the customary pergola shot! Come again!

My super Heros