Home Improvements

Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. Handy Erika..... (To the tune of Handy Manny)

Yesterday I installed a new toilet seat.

First - Put the littles in the bathtub so I can keep an eye on them while I work.  They were DISGUSTING anyways from eating chocolate chips.

Second - I tried to pry off the back nobby things from the toilet.  That didn't work.  Ah Hah...  They are screwed on.

"All-righty...  Now I see how this is connected."  I think to myself.

Next thought - "So how do I unscrew this?"  Go get the pliers from the garage and a butter knife.  Butter knife you ask...  To pop off the top nobby things of course.  Got it!  Oooh.  I can use a flat head screw driver.  Go get that from the garage.

Come back.  Fish my pliers out of the tub where the littles took it.  "Now, What is the best way to unscrew these from such an awkward position?" I think.  Hmmm.  "Hold the pliers at the nut and twist the plastic screw."  Not as easy as it looks.

Try to move and slip from all the water on the ground that the littles have dumped out of the tub.

Yell at anybody moving.  Turn to get the pliers and find them in the tub again

Go at this again.  Finally get one screw undone.  This is taking for ever and my arms feel like they are ready to fall off.  Not to mention I am throughly disgusted at the grossness around these screws.  EWWWW!

Get splashed with water from behind me.  Yell some more.  The bigs come in to see what's going on.  Yell at no one in particular and rip the toilet seat off the toilet.  Does this help?  No.  The other screw is still stuck.

Fish the pliers from the bathtub again.

FINALLY  - both screws are out.  Putting the new seat on was not big deal after that.

Start doing the happy dance and chanting, "Mama Got It!  Mama Got It!"  While all the kids start singing and chanting with me.  SUCCESS!!!

(Reenactment)

Then today Jason works on installing some shelves in the office closet.  While he is working on that project and I am working at the computer.

Then Collin decides he wants a cup of coffee.  He sets his bottle under the coffee maker, tries to put the grounds in, and starts the water flowing.  Jason comes into grounds all over the floor and counter and a bottle where a cup should be.

We clean this up and gate off the kitchen.  Enough is enough.  Or so we thought.  Collin takes off his diaper (filled with poop), climbs into kitchen, puts crackers all over the kitchen floor, squats, and finishes his crap.  Jason walks into a pile of crap on the floor surrounded by crackers.  Who wouldn't think - I want a snack and I have to take a crap.  Let's kill 2 birds with one stone and do it all on the kitchen floor???  Seems perfectly logical to me.

After this Jason was finally able to finish the shelves.












Riley ate her hammer.









Ben looked through his telescope at the tv.










And Wyatt ate the crackers that Collin had crushed into the living room floor.  (Thankfully poop free.)











All in all.  One productive weekend.

Oma - You'll Be Missed

Yesterday was a hard day.  My mom called me in the morning to let me know that Oma had passed away.  We went to the nursing home and spent time with her until the funeral home came to pick her up.  My mom said that she just knew she was still there and she started telling Oma about what was going on.  She read a beautiful email sent that Pr.Tamm forwarded us from Ev. Lemke.  It read as follows:

Ernie,

I am leaving for vacation tomorrow early in the morning for a week out of the country. Please extend my feelings to Karin. Erika and Alexander.

Her mother was surely one of the loveliest women I had the pleasure to know. She had a grandmotherly laugh and smile that always made the day brighter. Her demeanor was always calm and a feeling of happiness hung over her like a beam of sunlight coming through the clouds on a grey day. I think of her every time I drive down Capitol Drive where she lived in Brookfield. I'm sure you will miss her, but it will be wonderful and it won't be long until we are all together again. May God comfort you during these times. You and the family are in our hearts and prayers.

Grant and Christina

This pretty much sums up how everyone remembered my Oma.  So many people have shared their thoughts and condolences with us and they all say the same thing about her, give or take a few words.

Oma was all that is described above, but also so much more to my mom, brothers, sister, me, and the rest of our gang.  She was Oma who came down every Tues and stayed until Thur every week after my parents divorced.  She went grocery shopping with my sister after Alex and I went off to school every week.  My sister would always want a package of hotdogs every trip and have to eat at least one out of the package in the store, then she would want another, when she would ask for the third Oma would finally tell her no because she said the check out person was going to think that she was eating them too.  They would finish their outing with a trip to the bakery and then home again.  She made the best roladen!  She would sit a peel apples and oranges for us at night while we watched tv because she knew this was the only way to get any real fruit into us.  She was nervous and embarrassed easily by the motley crew that she was surrounded by.  She didn't like us to get to wild and crazy.  She liked neat and orderly (all of which the rest of us are not).  How she put up with us over the years is just beyond me, but we could always feel her love no matter how nuts we made her. 

Oma would do anything for any of one us.  We have been blessed to
have such a beautiful person in our lives.  Now and forever she will live in our hearts.  The sorrow for her loss is great, but the happiness we feel that she is free of her earthly, broken body is wonderful.  

Oma - Say hi to Opa for us and feel free to come and visit every once in a while.  

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

I walk into the kitchen and Ben looks at me and says," I'm not getting a cookie.". Me "Really.  Because I feel like I just caught you red handed."

The Littles - Up to no good.

Benjamin and Collin are known as "The Littles".  They have been up to no good as usual.







This is what your hair looks like after you put toothpaste and Neosporin in it and then get a good nights sleep.  Not a bad look really.  Has body and is very shinny.

Collin has discovered the dryer.  He climbed in there and refused to come out.  When I dragged him out of there and closed the door he opened the door, climbed in, and laughed.  I now have everyone in the house on high alert to make sure he doesn't claim this as his new hide-out.

Grandma

M-Mother - She helped to take care of my brother, sister, and I after my parents got divorced.
Y-Yummy - Grandma's food was always so yummy.

G-Great!  She made the Golden Girls and popcorn on the purple blanket the best treat ever!
R-Reliable - She was someone you could always count on.
A-Able - She was able to do anything in my eyes.
N-Neat - Grandma's house was always neat.
D-Domestic - She took care of everyone (especially my grandpa).
M-Musical - Grandma loved to sing - and she had a beautiful voice!
A-Admirable - She is someone I have always admired.

Her love to others, unwavering faith,  strong disposition, pride, stubbornness, compassion, and sense of family are just a few things that I have always admired about my grandma.  My brother Alex and I went to go visit my grandma today at the place she now lives.  I'd say "calls home", but it's not.  She is, was, and always will be to me such an amazing person it just made me think of all the great times we have had together.

You see we lived with my grandparents for about a year before my parents got divorced when I was 9 years old.  After that my dad lived with my grandparents, so we would stay with them every other weekend.  My grandma helped make it possible for me to be a kid when we were with my dad on the weekends.  She took care of my brother and sister (and me too).  She made spaghetti for dinner ever Friday night (and she made the best spaghetti ever.)  She went to the bakery every Saturday morning before her hair appointment.  She would come home with a loaf of rye bread, 2 chocolate donuts for Alex and Leigh, and an apricot sweet roll for me.  She made sure Alex and Leigh had baths every Saturday night while my dad and grandpa went out for a meeting at church (to prepare for service the next day).  She played church with us on Saturday nights after we'd read the Sunday School lesson.  Every Sunday morning she would make scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.  While everyone ate breakfast I would always be taking my shower and getting ready.  So while I was on my way out of the door there was always 2 pieces of bacon and 2 pieces of rye toast waiting for me on a napkin.  (I'm not much of an egg lover.)  Then we'd come home from church to the smell of a roast in the oven.

She took care of my Great Grandma Reese (her mom) until she passed away and then my grandpa too.  When Grandma Reese passed away everyone was crying at the wake but us.  She came over to me, put her arm around me, and said, "We have to be strong for everyone else."  When my grandpa died I couldn't be that person.  I cried like a baby at my grandpa's funeral, but grandma consoled others and kept her grief for a different time.

Grandma is not gone, but I feel like too many times we don't say all the great things that we love about a person.

Collin . . . Collin . . . Collin

Collin - The destructer. 

What to do with this child????  

The other day I walked into my bedroom to find Collin and Benjamin covered head to toe with lotion along with it all over my bedspread.  Collin opened it and then Ben joined in, although Ben just wanted to lotion his legs.  As I wrestle with Collin to give me back the lotion bottle Benjamin just sat there rubbing his legs telling me all about how he had to lotion his legs (slowly, stuttering, and in great detail.)  

I walked into the kitchen one day to find Collin and Benjamin on the counter, in the spice cabinet, pouring salt all over the stove.  Benjamin just follows whatever hair-brained idea his brother comes up with.  (fun)

  

I came home from my mom's house with my bag of cookie baking supplies because I went over there last Sunday to bake.  My fault for not putting my stuff away because Collin climbed up on the table, went in my bag, took out the baking powder, and poured it all over the kitchen.

Yesterday he was nice enough to crap in the tub.  Love fishing for turds.

Later in the day I suddenly become aware of how hot it was in the house.  Guess who turned up the heat in the house to 90'.  You guessed it ...  Collin.  This is one of his favorite things to do.  It's super fun coming home to a house that is like 100' because nobody was home to notice it.

If Benjamin is sitting at the table eating and see's Collin walk into the kitchen he immediately pulls his plate to his lap and starts yelling, "NO COLLIN NO!"  because he knows Collin's next move is to climb on the table, take his plate, through his food on the floor, and laugh.

Don't lay on the floor because he'll think you want to start wrestling and come jump on your head.

Don't leave the vacuum out because he'll take the attachments out and start beating his brothers with them.

Don't leave the bathroom door open because he'll TP the house, stick his hands in the toilet, empty out the drawers, climb in the sink and try to rip the mirror off the wall, and then leave with the toilet brush.  This is great because then he'll come and try to brush your hair with it.  (yummy)

You can try to strap him in but he'll figure a way out, you can try to gate him off but he'll climb out over it, you can try to close the door but he'll figure out how to open it.  

Go ahead and try to stop the kid, you can't.  He's like a kid x10.  My mom didn't believe me when I said this.  "He's not really that bad."  I reply, "Mom, he is that bad.  You just don't notice because Jason and I are always buffering for him.  Holding him back and trying to anticipate his next move."  So then we went to her house and I decided not to buffer.  I just sat on her couch playing Words With Friends and let him go.  After about 10 minutes there was yogurt all over her kitchen table with little foot prints in it, granola all over the floor, and Collin literally trying to hang from the chandelier.  Then she looked at me and said, "ok. ok. maybe your right.  You shouldn't buffer so much because people don't believe you when you talk about him."  Yah.  Like that's an option.  Let's just let the kid loose.  AHHHHH.  RUN FOR YOUR LIVES.  HE'S COMING!!!

But with all this going on you can't stay made at him for long (if at all sometimes).  He does none of it with malice in his heart.  He is the happiest baby you'll ever meet.  Smiling and laughing the whole time.  This is just his idea of a good time.

A musical household and more

When I was younger I always imagined a household full of music for my family, then I realized the problem would be I don't play an instrument. So then I always wanted to marry someone with musical talents. So I married Jason who plays no musical instruments at all.  What I learned tonight is that I still got what I wanted. My children are so wonderful they put on a musical concert for me. Wyatt played guitar and sang, Riley sang and danced, and Benjamin sang "jingle bells, Wyatt smells, Riley laid an egg" while  Collin was his backup dancer.  They took turns using their stage (aka their Finding Nemo table) to sing, dance, and play guitar.   After this it was bedtime.  An hour later I hear through the monitor Benjamin singing twinkle twinkle little star.