LaMarche family : June 2016

Thursday, June 30, 2016

oh man! basement water issues.

While were gone in MN with the Davis family, Cedar Falls must have gotten their biggest rain ever! We came home and discovered our entire basement carpeting was soaked. The sump and the backup were overwhelmed.

Thankfully not much was ruined. It was incredibly grueling to haul the carpet out in chunks, soaking wet. We had to roll up pieces and set them on a board to enable us to carry them up and out onto the driveway. I created a numbering system to help us know how to re-install them once the floor dried out.

I had to wash a ton of blankets/bedding that had soaked. The kids helped us get everything out of the basement, so right now the entire living room is filled with a queen sized bed, frame, extra bedding, some furniture, toys, etc.

We've got an insurance adjuster coming out to assess damage. We do have coverage for things like this so we're thankful for that. Thankful for strong bodies to do the work, bright sunny windy days following the damage to dry out the carpet.

We know for sure the trim will have to be replaced. The drywall is a question mark.

Weekend with Davis family in MN

A few weeks ago when we stayed with Aaron and Christina Davis in order to attend the William Gall baby funeral, they showed us their new place on the lake, and suggested we find a weekend we could hang out together there. We took the next week texting back and forth a few dates, and agreed on June 24-26.
We drove up Thurs evening and stayed at their house (they weren't even there, their older 3 kids were at LWBC and their younger 3 were with them at their lake house working on some improvements)...so Dave worked a full day at their house using their internet, and I met up with Dave's cousin Sara and her daughter Evie at a park. We let the kiddos all play and caught up with how she was doing after losing William. Such a difficult time.

Evie "wore out all the kids!" - she's a bright, funny, energetic little girl!

We met Aaron and Christina at their lake house Friday evening at 5:00 pm and they had a spread of tacos ready for dinner! They have 6 children so there were plenty of play buddies available.

The weekend schedule was pretty relaxed ~ everybody kinda did what they wanted in the water and relaxed by the shore. Lots of boating. I water-skiied, Dave wake-boarded, Violet tubed and tried waterskiing for the first time (5 attempts, got up the last try and skiied for about 10 seconds!! - so fun to see her do this!), Calvin, Vanessa and Eli stuck to the tubes.

Lots of sunscreen, lots of food, lots of laughs, devotion time worshiping God together (I brought my guitar and played some music). One night after all the kids were in bed, the adults took the boat out in the middle of the lake and stared at the stars. It was a crystal clear night - so beautiful!

Sam and Andrea Diehl and 4 of their 5 kids came out on Sunday to visit for a few hours. Dave and Sam are good childhood buddies. Rachel Diehl is next to them in the pic, that is Sam's mother.

Aaron & Christina - kids are Jesse (13), Jacob (11), Samantha (9), Jackson (7), Paige (5), and Skylar (2)

Paige and Vanessa were great buddies!

"the gals!"

all the kids!

Violet and Samantha

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Vanessa (6) and Eli (4) well-checks at the doctor

The funniest part of visiting the doctor with these two is discovering they weight exactly the same. 41.8. To the tenth of the pound, they're exactly the same. The nurse and I got the giggles when Vanessa got the measurement, then Eli stepped on the scale with the same number - we did a double take.
Both are healthy, growing, but on different points of the "percentage" scale. Eli is on the above average for length/weight and Vanessa is in the 25% percentile.
They were both happy, silly, enjoyed the process, all until Eli had to get his 4 booster vaccinations and then started crying because he didn't like what just happened to him. It's never easy to hold down your kid and watch them go from smiles to tears so quick. Even if we know it is good for them. Hmm...seeing a parallel there.

walking in the back entrance

Vanessa: "We can open the door with our own strength! We don't need to push the button!" - Mama Row encourages the kids to do this.

Eli "I'm pushing four because I'm four." Just so happens the doctor's office is on the fourth floor.

41.8 lbs

41.75"

aww..shock over what just happened. He got super cute bugs bunny bandaids though.

ice cream treat - "mini date" with mom

Eli got panicky when we had to take the bandaids off a couple days later.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

"Black crackers"

Eli: "Mom, can I have one of those black crackers?"
Me: *confused*
Eli: "Can I have one of those black crackers?"
Me: *remembering!* "Oh! You mean oreos?"
Eli: "Yes. I'll just have one. I prooooooooomise!"

We bought a pack of Oreos, which in this house, happens once every few years. I am saving them for treats for this coming weekend when we spend time with the Davis family at their lake cabin.

Last night during dinner he also closed his eyes and said, "Dad, can you see my skin eyes?"

4 is so funny.

Editing to add one on 6/29/2016:

I was holding up Eli with my arms above my head and moving him up and down while we waited for the older kids to finish their gymnastics lesson. I brought him above my head, lowered him behind my head, and brought him up. While he came up he said, "Mom! You're dipping me in your brains!!!"