Saturday, August 20, 2011

Saturday, August 20, 2011

We’ve had quite a lot , ing on lately.  Today, we went to Izzy’s surprise 4th birthday party.  She said she wanted a surprise party, so they told her no one was going to be able to come to her party. Then they opened the garage door and we all yelled, “Surprise!”  It was a great party and we had a lot of fun.  If only my husband would have been able to attend.  He worked until 1 am this morning and then all day today. 

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The birthday girl!!

Friday, August 19, 2011

KitchenAid

Today, Stacie and Madison came over and we were all happily playing in the basement.  I then came upstairs to a smoke filled room that smelled of burning plastic.  Let me back up a bit.

Last weekend, we purchased a new dishwasher.  Our old one only worked about every 4th time and when it did work, the dishes weren’t always the cleanest.  So, we did our online research, went to three different places and felt we made an educated choice with KitchenAid.  We wanted one that was middle of the road and this one was priced right with rave reviews.  It was installed on Monday. 

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We pinpointed the smell to the dishwasher and honestly I was afraid to open it with visions of flames escaping every which way.  But, we did and found that a knife had fallen down onto the heating element and was literally sizzling to the point of almost being on fire!

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Here is what is left of the knife.  That is the blade on top.  For one, I didn’t realize that some dishwashers have an exposed heating element and others don’t.  I personally think all of them should be unexposed.  It’s a major fire hazard.  I can’t tell you how many times Olivia’s sippy cup lids have fallen to the bottom of our old dishwasher.  And, I didn’t realize that heat dry is the default option and you actually have to turn it off for auto dry.  I’m terrified that I’m accidentally going to have it on heat dry and something is going to fall to the bottom.   

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Now, we’ve got this mess to deal with, the smell to get rid of and I’m a very unhappy customer who was told, “To be more careful from now on when loading my silverware.” 

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Here are two things that have made me smile this week.

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Olivia’s drawings.  She has started drawing more and more objects and I LOVE to see them.  This is a self portrait.  I love that girl!!!

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A sweet, cuddly kitten.  Kelsey is a total sweetheart.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Olivia and I. . .we had quite the sweet moments today.  You see, she has never been able to watch an actual movie. .they don’t hold her interest for that long.  We watch TV episodes of Caillou, Olivia, etc that last 15 minutes or so.  Well, today I got out Fox and The Hound. . one of my favorite movies when I was little and thought we’d try to watch it.  To my surprise. . .she watched the whole thing (the whole hour and a half of it!)  And, she loved it and asked questions about it and got excited and sad and scared.  That movie has always made me cry, but today I cried because I got to share it with her.  I just can’t describe the amazing feeling.  Then, later, she didn’t want to go to bed because she wanted to cuddle with me.  (She normally isn’t a big cuddler.)  So, I soaked that all up.  We talked a bit about our movie and how Tod and Copper were the best of friends.  I asked her who her best friend was and she said, “Mommy is my best friend.”  And my heart just melted.  What an amazing day!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Olivia was hilarious today! Here she is preparing a picnic lunch for Tobey and me.  She used garden flags as placemats.  Tobey is such a good sport. . .he actually played along and sat by his dishes. 

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We cleaned the house A LOT today, including the front closet full of winter gear.  She walked around with a hat, gloves and boots for awhile today.  Of course, then she made me wear a stocking cap as well.  So, yes, I was cleaning my bathroom in August in a stocking cap. 

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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Since the weather is finally bearable, we went to the zoo today and renewed our membership that expired in June.  It’s just been too hot to go all summer. 

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Daddy and Olivia in the jungle

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On a mission to go see the zebras.

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Being silly

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Being silly again

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Olivia and her new pet parrot.  Yes, for once we let her buy something in the gift shop.  LOL.