Egress Window, Pumpkin Patch

Monday I had my 20 week Dr appointment, I forgot my appointment last Thursday. Darn. Baby sounds and looks good so far. I took home the glucose juice to take the gestational diabetes test at my 24 week appointment. Yum. We were ready for Jeppson construction to start digging for our egress window. Two hours late I heard from Sean that the guy who does the digging forgot to call the power/utility hotline, a city service that makes sure no utility lines or power lines are in the way of digging large holes. I guess the process takes 36 hours since a worker has to come out and flag our property.

The weather was quite dismal with slate gray skies until Thursday. We mostly stayed inside while I switched summer clothes for winter clothes in the kids closets. That is always a huge project since I am also sorting, paring down, making consignment and donate piles, and keeping the piles straight from Evelyn. She had a blast jumping in all my piles and trying on all sorts of clothing. Course by Friday the temperatures were back up to 80-85 degrees. I left the big tote in reach so I can pull a couple summer items if needed for the next month. While the house was under construction I tackled a couple other closets to organize. Mostly, I enjoyed being away from the computer and reading on the couch. Most of us caught a nasty stomach bug. Amelia threw up Sunday night to kick off that party. The rest of us did not throw up but felt really nauseous and had terrible digestion issues. Poor Evelyn had a bum rash worthy of a day in underwear and me blow drying her bum after every accident. Since I was feeling so poorly I actually fainted a couple times. Thus, couch time seemed like a good idea. I fed the Elder's spatazle, brats, sauerkraut, potatoes, and brown gravy. Looks like that favorite meal is moved to the yucky category for a couple years.

Sean showed up at 10 am on Wednesday (2 hours late) claiming he would finish the window that day. I had high hopes! An hour later a huge 5 foot deep, 4 foot wide hole was gaping on our north east side of the house. Soon after that the cement cutting started. As expected, it was a messy, dusty, noisy job. The guys kept disappearing and coming back. They soon told me that our foundation is riddled with cement and rebar. I am glad to know that our basement walls will withstand WWIII! Bad news: it took two days to just cut the window hole and four broken saw blades. The guys were shaking after the second day of cutting. Sean came back Friday afternoon  and popped in the window, installed the well, back filled the hole, and trimmed out the window all in less than a couple hours. The kids enjoyed exploring the large mound of dirt, and the deep hole.

Thursday evening the kids put on a costume show. Justin and I had a laugh at their creative costume pairings. Phillip's shield shoes and princess dress were a huge hit! The kids marched around to music and showed off cool dance moves. Phillip asked for Zerberts as a snack. I obliged and gave him many zerberts. Then I told him he really wanted Sherbert. He replied you mean, sher-zerberts? Yep. The kids snacked on sher-zerberts for bedtime treat. Phillip also earned a bucket filler award Thursday at school. He earned the prestigious award during music class. He has no idea why he earned the award...still...pretty good job! He proudly wears his chew-proof rubber bracelet as proof of his achievement. I tried to snag a photo of my 21 week belly. Evelyn photo bombed the pic with her naked bum. Cute, really cute.

Friday evening and Saturday morning Justin launched a full-scale war on the construction dust in the house. He manned the shop vac in the new bedroom. After a couple hours of vacuuming he invested in an air purifier to help filter out the dust. I purchased enough Swiffer dusters and handles for the kids and I to dust all surfaces. I mopped the ceiling, a new endeavor for me. Justin and Amelia wiped off the walls with wet rags. It is still pretty dusty in dark basement recesses, I guess those pockets will wait until further exploration. We have our work cut out playing musical bedrooms, sorting through stuff to cram Justin's hunting gear and my craft supplies into one room. We can do it...right?! All the kids worked hard dusting and cleaning.

We took the kids to Fanny's Fruit Farm to celebrate a day's hard work. We enjoyed a warm, sunny evening at Fanny's. Beth (who owns it) and her family put a lot of elbow grease into making the farm a little slice of heaven. We are very happy to support such a cute local get-away for the steeper price. Included in the entrance fee are several fun activities: hay bale maze, glitter tattoos, Mr McGregor's garden, goats/chickens/cats/sheep, grain bins to play in, large trike racing course, corn maze, tractor museum, food, snacks, and of course the pumpkin patch. Evelyn chased the chickens and cats! She loves animals. The kids loved jumping on the hay bales. Seemed like the kids spent the most time in the grain bins. The millet bin had two construction toys to the boys monopolized. The kids had millet, wheat, and corn hiding in all sorts of crazy places. Phillip's friend Eleanor helped us pick pumpkins. Her parents own the property so she runs wild owning the place! She went to preschool for two years with Phillip. We found lots of cool pumpkins! I snagged a fun orange one with green warts all over it. Everett chose a tiny pumpkin, worth of baby status. Amelia found the largest pumpkin with a really thick stem. Phillip had the hardest time finding his perfect pumpkin. We got to ride the hay wagon with our pumpkins back to our vehicle. The kids and I explored the corn maze while Justin and Evelyn paid for the pumpkins. We were surprised at the affordable pumpkin prices, much cheaper than even Walmart. We stayed until well after 7 pm, I loved the kids silhouettes against the darkening sky. Fun, fun day for all.

I was released as MiaMaid counselor and called to RS pianist. I felt so sad all day, wondering why I was released when things were running so smoothly. Guess it is more logistical since the entire YW presidency also have husbands that make up the entire Bishopric. The girls all gasped when the new counselors were called! I take that for a really good sign! Our YW are great young ladies. Evelyn happened to need a diaper change at the exact same time I was supposed to play the piano. There went my first day! LOL.