Snow!

We're in Spokane for the weekend celebrating Christmas with Sean's family. It snowed here last night and all morning... and it's beautiful! When the kids woke up this morning, I drug them outside in their PJs to stand in the snow for a brief moment. I love the feeling of snow falling and I wanted them to feel it too! Reagan thought it was really neat until she realized that she was getting wet... then it wasn't so neat anymore. Ian took it like a champ and just smiled as usual!

Here are a few pictures of our morning snow...

Update

Okay... here's the latest on our washing machine mishap. We don't know too much, but I'll tell you what we do know!
1. We have a home warranty that covers the repairs of the washer (but not the secondary damage caused by the washer)
2. We have FANTASTIC homeowners insurance (USAA--- Thank you Dad!!) and they cover all of the secondary damage caused by the washer.
3. The washer malfunction was caused by a pressure tube line that failed to tell the washer to stop filling the tub. The water (and soap) overflowing into the other cavity of the washer caused additional damage to the bearings of the wash tub that allow it to go into the spin cycle.
4. Because of the secondary damage to the washer, our homeowners insurance now covers the washing machine also.
Now... isn't that full circle?

We had a contractor come on Tuesday to check out the house and give our insurance company an estimate for the repairs needed. All I can say about those numbers is... OUCH!! And.... Praise the Lord for Homeowners Insurance! Now we just wait for the contractor to begin. Looks like the project should be all done by the end of January...

We'll keep you posted!

Bummer.

One of the things we love about our new house is that the laundry room is upstairs. I confess... I used to be terrible about putting the clean laundry away... and having the laundry room upstairs gives me no excuses about putting the clothes away.

Here's the problem. When the washing machine, conveniently upstairs, decides to continuously fill the tub with water and therefore overflow... and flow... and flow... it has all kinds of fun places to "flood". For instance... the laundry room, the hallway, the kids bathroom and a portion of Ian's room. For more fun, the water decided to make a grand entrance into our downstairs family room via the walls, ceiling, trim around the windows and baseboards. Hence the title of this blog... bummer. As a result, we now have very large fans, blowers, heaters and dehumidifiers all over the house... as well as a large hole in the ceiling and wall downstairs, no carpet pad in the family room, hallway and Ian's room and no flooring at all in the kid's bathroom and laundry room.

Here's the good news! We're in great spirits! There is always a blessing to be found in situations like this... from the moment we discovered the "rain" in our family room (as Reagan and Asher (my nephew) called it)... we've laughed. And we've tried to laugh a lot in the last 2 days! In fact, when I saw Asher yesterday morning, one of the first things he said to me was about the rain in my house and how cool it was! I'm so thankful for the fun that kids find in the midst of a bummer of a situation... We are confident in God's purpose for this minor inconvenience... and it's a great reminder that we need to store up our treasures in heaven and not here!

Here are some pictures of the result of our "rain"

The big hole in the ceiling

The "hole" in the family room wall

2 of the many pieces of equipment littering the house...

And finally...

the perpetrator.

I pray that my next post will be the resulting new walls, ceiling and maybe... new carpet!

Oooooo.... Rice Cereal!

Today was a big day in Ian's life. His first taste of food! (Although... I can't be sure that rice cereal counts as "food".) Apparently Ian thought it was pretty fantastic... he would dive at the spoon as it came towards his mouth. It was really funny! Reagan wouldn't go near the stuff... so needless to say, I was quite surprised when Ian ate it with enthusiasm!
Here are some pictures of his newest discovery.

Pictures I love...

I got a friendly lecture from a friend of mine today (you know who you are! :) )... she said that I don't update our blog enough. So... I decided to post some of my favorite pictures from the last few months. You can click on the pictures to see them larger. Here you go!

Our favorite time of day...

Bathtime is our favorite time of the day around here...



Both of the kids LOVE the bath. Reagan is undressed and in the tub before we've even filled it with water. And you should see Ian laugh and kick as he lays on the his towel waiting to get in. Now that they can bathe together, we have to remind Reagan that Ian might not like to have water dumped over his head as much as she does...

The snuggle time that follows is the best part for the adults in the house!

Is it possible?

I'm wondering if it is possible for a cat and a kid to be best friends.
I have to say that we, quite possibly, have the coolest cat in the whole world.

Meet Smooches.



I know, it's a crazy name, but it fits him perfectly. I found Smooches outside of my office building in Spokane in 2001... this tiny little white kitten with one blue eye and one brown eye. I picked him up, he immediately nuzzled his nose into my neck and started to purr, and then I immediately called Sean (who said he would never have a cat) and said (like a 3 year old) "Can we keep him, pllleeaasseee?"
He's the most disobedient cat, but he loves our kids more than we thought possible. Reagan calls him "Mooches"-- all she has to do is make the kissing sound and he comes running. He has never gotten mad and swatted, hissed or nipped at the kids-- which is especially important with Ian's grip and ability to roll and reach anything near him. If Ian is playing on the floor, he is right there-- probably next to his head either sniffing him or rubbing his nose on his head. If Reagan is sitting (that doesn't happen too often), he will attempt to sit on her lap and snuggle with her. I caught this moment today-- how cute is that?


So I ask again... is it possible for a cat and a kid to be best friends?
At this point, I think so.

My buttons...

How do I not laugh?
Here's how the conversation went...

Mommy: "Reagan, please don't push my butttons!"

...Long thoughtful pause...

Reagan (while looking all around me): "Mommy, where are your buttons? I want to turn them all on."

Hey Mom!

If Ian could talk, I'm pretty sure this is what he would have said in this moment...



"Hey Mom! Come here! I just spit up all over my hand and then rubbed it all over my face! Isn't it cool?!"
Not sure if my nomination for "Mother-of-the-Year" will come because it took me a few minutes to notice he had done this or since I grabbed my camera to take his picture before I cleaned him up...

Moving...

Okay... so we moved into the new house this past weekend. I probably don't even need to say it, but moving with a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 month old is very interesting. Check out this picture... As you can see Reagan was tons of help while I was packing. If you can't tell by the picture, that is Reagan in a box. She got into the box right after she took everything out of the box that I had just put in... Needless to say, I quit packing right then and waited until nap time to continue!



Now that we're in the new house, she's lots of help unpacking though... Only one china tea cup was broken and it was my fault! Ian is such a cool kid too... he doesn't seem phased by any of this at all-- thank goodness. God has been so good to give me an extra measure of patience and a heightened sense of humor in this process. Praise Him for that!

It's pretty late now and I'm sitting here trying to get used to the new noises of this house... I was so used to the different noises in our old one. I could even tell when our cats were walking down the hallway. Our new bathroom has a skylight in it and the sound of the rain hitting the skylight is really great. Seriously, I like it!

For those of you reading this who aren't in Western Washington, it is raining so hard here that I asked my dad today if he thought the Ark would show up soon. Crazy. I told Reagan that it was raining Cats and Dogs and she looked at me like I was nuts. How do you explain a figure of speech to a 2 year old? You don't, I guess.

Have you ever...

I got this list from a friend's blog... I think it is such a great idea! I also love the idea of a life list... some of these things would not be on mine!!

Here's a list of some things one might have done in his or her lifetime: the ones I've done are highlighted and I put little parenthetical notes beside some of them. It's kind of long but it's interesting--and we all know it's fun to learn new things about each other! I realized that I did a lot of these things in college...what fun years!

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins (that's on my life list!)
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula (NEVER!)
07. Talked your way out of a ticket
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris (does it count if I don't remember the trip?)
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sunrise.
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a major sports game (several!)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables (does this count if it was Mom's garden?)
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (at a funeral... oh my. Ask me sometime-- it's a great story and not disrespectful at all, I promise.)
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving (amazing!)
51. Visited Ireland (so beautiful...)
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs (that would require them to be in their cases, right?)
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day (Before kids, clearly.)
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient site
70. Taken a martial arts class (Karate... it kicked MY butt!)
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight (huh?)
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage (too many times to count...)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently well enough to have a decent conversation
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised (raising) children (child)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Been arrested
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Written articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane (not for long, though...)
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari (also on my life list)
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse (now that's a funny story)
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed (fun,fun,fun!)
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad (and the Odyssey)
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read (Salinger, Kipling, Austen) (Steinbeck!!!)
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair (not sure what my natural color even is... how sad is that?)
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life
151. Competed and finished a triathlon (on my life list!)

Happy Halloween!

We had a nice quiet Halloween... it was cold here so we decided to go to the mall to Trick-or-Treat. A local church sponsored a fun evening at the mall-- lots of people, candy and fun! Here are some pictures...

The cutest Pumpkin ever!


Trick-or-Treating at GG's (Great Grandma's) House... She gives the good candy!


Fun with Daddy...


Mommy & Daddy's littlest Pumpkin...


We hope you had a safe and fun evening! Enjoy the candy :)

A new house!

The Draper family has a new house!! We plan to move in this weekend.... Lord willing! We are so excited about all of the memories that will be made in our new home... God has so clearly opened doors for us to buy it and we feel so blessed. It's not too far from our current home, but has a room that will become the play room and a backyard with a big toy! Reagan is so excited about her new slide!



The exterior...



Here are some fun pictures from our adventures in painting at the new house...



Reagan and her friend Drew "painting" the play room... they don't need to know that there isn't any paint on their rollers do they?


Lindsey's dad sacrificing his body for the sake of the gas stove... what a guy!



It's a painting party!



This is the first pink color we chose for Reagan's huge room.... a little too much Pepto Bismol for us. Needless to say we immediately went and picked out another color!

an artist and a walk...

So we went to The Children's Museum of Tacoma last week... what a fun place! Reagan had such a great time. She got to experience some fun things and even got to paint on this huge canvas... she loved it! Hey, maybe she'll be artistic?!



That night we all got bundled up and went for a walk around the neighborhood... it was fun!

Some fun pictures...

Ian has 2 new play toys... his feet! He loves to grab his feet... even making it a challenge to change his diaper...













He also has a new hat...




Reagan has decided that Ian's Bumbo chair is the perfect place to chill while she watches her favorite show... Sesame Street!




This was such a precious moment... big sister making little brother laugh!

The Pumpkin Patch!

We went to the Pumpkin Patch tonight with Alicia, Keven, Asher & Tatum (Lindsey's sister and her family). We had a such a great time! The big kids loved running through the haystack maze and climbing all over the pumpkins. The babies enjoyed a ride in the stroller! Reagan picked out a really big pumpkin and quickly proclaimed "Daddy! It's too heavy!" Here are a few fun pictures...

The kids...

Here are some recent pictures of the kids... they're growing so fast! Reagan is 2 1/2 and Ian is 4 months old.




Reagan has a very fun personality... she's funny, sassy and incredibly loving. In fact, she just yelled from her room at the top of her lungs "I LOVE YOU MOMMY!" It doesn't get much better than that.
It is a kick to see Ian's personality develop already too... he laughs very easily and smiles a ton. He's a very big boy (off the charts in the height dept... although I'm not too much of a fan of the "charts"... but that's for another post I suppose). He's already trying to sit up on his own. Can't wait to see what kind of little man he'll be.
I look forward to sharing all the funny things they do!

How do we do this?

So we're new to the blogging world... I've been reading blogs for quite some time, but have never attempted my own. We'll see how this goes!
Please be patient as I figure all of this out...
Until next time... if there is one!
-L