water - Water - and MORE WATER!!!

Almost 3 weeks ago Caleb went downstairs to lift weights and came back up saying, "Mom there is water in the basement." I asked, "How much?" He said, "A LOT!"

To be honest, I thought he was exaggerating and trying to get me riled up (he is good at that). But I went down anyway and WHOA -he was far from kidding. most of our basement was covered with water....2 inches in the most shallow parts and 4 inches in the deepest. Well it was about 9 at night, I was exhausted and Jeff was umpiring baseball games. So I sent Jeff and text message and waited to see what to do next.

By the time Jeff got home that night it was late and we both collapsed into bed. Wednesday morning Jeff was quite surprised when he realized how bad things really were. And he jumped into action (I was gone with the littles taking Caleb to an orthodonist appointment). By the time I returned he had work covered for the day and a sump pump going full force to get the water out.

Mind you, we have lived here 11 years and never had water in our basement so we were more than a little shocked. You can imagine with 8 children how many boxes of clothes we have. And many, many boxes of memories fro our childhoods as well as our children's. Top it off, it was not clean water - it was sewer water.

We know the basement was dry on Sunday evening and Caleb made his discovery Tuesday night...so everything could have been sitting in that icky water for up to 48+ hours. Boxes of clothes or papers can soak up a LOT of water in that time.

In the end a broken sewer line was the cause. Thankfully it was on our side of the sidewalk and not in the street. Saturday Jeff got a backhoe and started digging. Like all projects we have done at this house, it could not go without complications and when the lines were exposed the water line started to 'pop' leaks - one after the other. It was quickly determined we need to replace the water line too - all the way from the city hook-up into the house. Now the good news about that is the old 3/4in pipe was so corroded there was maybe a 1/8in opening for water to come in. So with the new water line it is AMAZING what great water pressure we have now!

We are so incredibly thankful for our friends Duane and Junann who came by that morning planning to help and help they did. They stayed until we had water again - about 10pm! There is NO WAY we could have done it without them!!!

All this time I was also dealing with our insurance company. There were a few headaches....like having to wait for a contractor to give us an estimate on replacing the sheetrock and paneling even though we did and will re-do it all ourselves and like having to try and figure out replacement costs on over 100 little girls' shirts. In the end we have about $40,000 in damages and property loss. Thankfully we had some insurance coverage...but there was a policy limit of $5,000.

Friday evening I went downstairs to get something from the secondary refrigerator and all the lights were on so I looked across wondering why and WHOA - WATER - AGAIN!!!! I yelled for Jeff and then burst into tears. I just could not understand why we had water again. Fortunately, Jeff still had the borrowed sump-pump and set it to work again. Unfortunately, many of the boxes that we had saved from the first round were now wet. What a way to sepnd out 16th anniversary.

Saturday morning Jalissa had to be to the high school early to make the bus for a soccer game. Jeff and I were going to go to breakfast together. Before we left, Jeff went to check the basement and - WATER - AGAIN!!! On went the sump-pump again

We still went to breakfast - had to wait until the water was all out to do anything anyway. And we even hit 'gold' at a garage sale. Then home we went where another dear friend, Alan came to help Jeff and Caleb for a couple hours. They tore out most of the paneling and studs (which were wet again). Jeff and Caleb finished the rest. Saturday afternoon my dear friend, Jen and her sweet daughter Megan came to help go through boxes. We quickly transfered what could be saved to new, sturdier and DRY boxes - UP where they can not get wet again.

What do you learn through something like this?
1. some amazing people have servant hearts and will help with anything
2. no matter how many times you try to tell yourself it is just 'stuff' you still mourn the loss of some things

There is a part of me that is still wondering, what bigger lessons GOD is trying to teach me/us that we have to keep having water visit us....but I am still trying to process that and will have to blog on it later if/when I figur it out.

Until next time......

So it has been awhile.....

Funny how I can have a running list of things that I think, "oh that would be fun or interesting to blog about," but I rarely seem to get to it.

Well, my formerly technologically challenged honey has gained a lot of ground and is blogging away (see his link below) so I thought I best update mine also.

2009 has been a far better year than 2008 so far:

* Jalissa is thriving in her Freshman year of high school and anxiously anticipating September when she will be 16 and can get a driver's license. She is enjoying a successful soccer season this Spring and even scored the first goal of the year (and the only, winning goal for that game)! I think she was the most surprised!

* Caleb has been on a tremendous growing spurt - adding 4 inches and 30 pounds just since September...and not a lick of it is fat! He surpassed by Jalissa and I and now matches Jeff. He just started baseball season (at the high school!), and while he is not sure he has the passion for it that he used to, I am very excited to see him play with his increased size and strength this year!

* Cole is finishing up his last year of elementary school and has made some good progress. He has found a very good friend in Jordan, for which I am very thankful.

* Jalayna is as fiery as ever. We celebrated her turning 10 and moving into the double digits. Our experience has always been that there is a great deal of maturity that comes in their tenth year. So I am am anxious to watch my sunshine grow. She decided to forgo softball this year so she could focus on track.

* Jaden Joy is having a wonderful year in second grade. The biggest event for her was when she had 11 inches of hair cut off to donate for Locks of Love. Her bob sure is cute but OH MY what a change! It did not seem to bother her a bit (even though she says she is going to grow it out again and not sure she will cut it short ever again) and I am very proud of her.

* Chloe had some challenges at the beginning of the shool year but has worked hard and done great! She gave us a good fright the end of February when she awoke Saturday morning with a temp of 104.8. Strep throat had been going around, but I checked and was sure she did not have that. There was also a virus of fever going around so I thought that was what we were up against. Well, finally at 4am Monday morning I checked and she was burning up and her temp had hit 105 and her right side hurt so bad she could not get out of bed alone to go to the bathroom. That was it for me, we headed to the ER with what appeard to be a classic case of appendicitis. Even the ER doctor thought so. But we were all fooled when 'pictures' came back showing a baseball size lump of pneummonia in her right lung! So we spend until Tuesday morning admitted to the hospital then two more days of running to the hospital for IV meds and it was not until the following Wednesday we even considered letting her try a full day of school. She was quite a trooper - never fussing for even a blood draw!

* Jarah just turned 4 this week and Mommy is glad to be free of 3yo's for a few months =) She has some trouble with some of her speech so we have been seeing Miss Patty once a week since the first of the year. Jarah enjoys it - especially since it is at school like the big kids.

* Johnson continues to ALWAYS keep me (and all of us) on our toes. It is nothing to find him on top the counters, on top the refrigerator, or running out the back door around to the front to bang and the door and say, "Let me in!" He knows how to un-lock ALL the locks, so it is going to be a trying Summer because he LOVEs to be outside. He shocked me when the first week of March (the week of production of the 8th grade play I direct and Caleb was starring in and Jaden Joy acting in) he got up one morning and said, "I want undies, I go pee in the potty." I looked and him ans jokingly said, "Can you wait til next week?" GEEZ, when it's your 8th kid you kind of want it to be on yoru time table a little bit. But he was serious! He has had very few accidents (and lately those are intentional, not accidents). Who woulda thunk potty training a boy could be so easy? Certainly not me!

* And yes, we are expecting again. I was not really surprised as I have been saying since Johnson was born I believe there is one more for us. My instinct has not been wrong with the first 8, but I never take it to the bank so we will see. We are 'officially' due October 31. My grandmother turns 91 on October 17 and I think nothing could be better than to have a little girl on her birthday....but not my plans, the Lord's plans and whatever He sees fit we will gladly welcome into our family (well, except maybe Jalissa who says, "I REFUSE for it to be a boy!" LOL).

Jeff is still busy keeping our grade school in tip top shape. This year he has opted to umpire baseball and softball games instead of coaching. He seems to really enjoy it...not to mention he makes a little money at it too :0)

Because of my pregnancy, the doctor has said "no running" so I am a bit bummed about that, but it's temporary, but Thanksgiving I should be back at it. I still do tons of pictures and photo editing and my latest passion is SendOutCards. There is a link below if you want to check it out, our you can contact me and I will walk you through it.

Well, this is a long update....maybe, just maybe, it will boot me to post more often (with more inspiring thoughts than just family updates).

Until next time.....

In HIS great Love,
~lisa

AMAZING!

Our Freshman High School student came to me after the first day of school with a BRIGHT pink piece of paper and said, "Mr. DeRuiter said if we do nothing else today that we MUST give this paper to one of our parents." The paper reads:

URGENT! IMPORTANT! VITAL! INFORMATIVE!
FRESHMAN PARENT
PLEASE COME TO A VERY IMPORTANT MEETING
REGARDING YOUR FRESHMAN STUDENT ON:
THURSDAY
AUGUST 21
7:00PM
AT PCHS IN THE VERMEER AUDITORIUM
PLEASE BE SURE AT LEAST ONE PARENT/GUARDIAN
IS PRESENT!
THIS IS A MEETING THAT YOU WILL NOT WANT TO
MISS. IN FACT, YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO MISS THIS MEETING!

So last night Jeff and I went to this meeting. What transpired has got to be one of the most AMAZING and AWESOME things I have ever witnessed.

Mr. DeRuiter told us that an the school had received an anonymous gift with VERY specific instructions. Those instructions were that the balance of tuition for EVERY student of the Freshman class of 2008-2009 was to be PAID IN FULL! The Freshman class has 87 students. Then there was more. There are 44 families that have 2 students at PCHS - 30 of those have a Freshman. For the other 14 families, the balance of tuition for 1 of their students will be PAID IN FULL! There are 2 families that have 3 students (one set of triplets that are Juniors and one family with a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior) - if I remember this part correctly, the school is working to make it so they will end up paying tuition for only one of their students.

Now being a logical minded person who loves to work with numbers, I did some quick math and this is a gift of about $500,000! HALF A MILLION DOLLARS!

WHY the Freshman class of 2008-2009? Don't know, that's just what the donor was lead to do.

What if someone doesn't need this gift (and there are people that don't need it) or want to take only part of it? That can happen to! We have the option of designating our gift to another student at PCHS, or letting the finance committee determine who should get it, or using only a portion of the gift.

I/we am/are still totally BLOWN AWAY by this HUGE act of kindness and generosity! I, for one, can not wait to see what GOD does with this!

AMAZING - simply AMAZING!!!! What an AWESOME GOD we serve!!!!

Transitions

This is Thursday and I am in transition mode. See on Tuesday at 7am I went to the bottom of the stairs and said, "Good morning, Good morning! It's time to rise and shine!" And thus began the 2008-2009 school year.

A majority of moms can not wait for school to start each year. They get to 'ship' their kids off for about 8 hours and they are 'free' for awhile. It is those moms who are forever saying to me, "I bet with all those kids you have, you just can't WAIT for school to start!" As if I am going to empathize with them. What they do not realize is they are barking up the wrong tree. I LOVE having my kids home and doing things with them! It always takes me a week to re-adjust when school starts each year.

And this year is no exception....but it's not just a normal start of a school year. Jalissa started high school! I thought that I would be all nervous for her and anxious and all, but the reality is I am excited for her. She is a beautiful young lady and often amazes me with her wisdom, willingness, and winsome ways. She has her head on straight, has a good idea of what she wants and how to get there.

Chloe is in 1st grade this year. Why is that a big deal? Because in our school system Kindergarten is a three-days-a-week program. So this year Chloe is going to school - all day, every day! She is excited about it. Mommy realizes it means less Mommy and Chloe time.

Caleb is in 8th grade, which makes him 'top dog' at PCGS this year. That comes with a good deal of privileges. He also suddenly outgrew me a couple months ago (and Jalissa - she's NOT impressed) so he seems so grown up in many ways - and yet there is still a good deal of 'boy' in him.

Cole is in 5th grade, which makes this his last year of elementary school. As my tenderhearted, soft-spoken boy, I worry about him. Having said that, he's suddenly been quite the inquisitor this Summer - a trait that while driving his daddy crazy, will serve him well!

Jalayna is in 4th grade. Her biggest delight is celebrating the fact there are actually 11 girls in 4th grade now! Thankfully they are still keeping the girls together with 9 boys to fill the class while the other class is an all-boy class. It ought to prove to be an interesting year since the girls outnumber the boys for the first time ever!

Jaden Joy is now in 2nd grade. Her biggest thing right now is that she is within about 1/2 and inch of catching Jalayna in height! LoL

Jarah and Johnson - you think they are bored at home without all their older siblings to entertain them? NO WAY!!! I have spent a lot of the last two days chasing them off of the latest thing they have climbed! One of them climbs and the other is sure to follow! Jarah is a monkey for sure - but Johnson is sure not going to be left behind and has been deemed the family's 'monkey man'. They constantly crack me up....

Oh and new transition for Johnson too - I just put the high chair away today! Yep, more work for me in the sense of getting him to stay in his seat, but in all honesty the high chair didn't keep him in either.

Transition - it's a natural, normal part of life - we all have a choice to either 'fight it' and fuss and whine about it OR 'go with it' and see the positives....seems like an obvious choice to me.

"Uh-Up"

Say it quickly and you will realize it is a 15 month-old's version of, "Shut-up!"

At first one might think it is because he has seven older siblings to teach him such things. NO! The siblings are not at fault this time. "Uh-up," is all Daddy's doing. Yes, Daddy happens to find this quite humorous (much to Mommy's dismay). Here is how it all began:

Daddy pulls in the driveway and walks in the house.
Bounce (Mommy's 3lb peek-a-poo) barks - a lot.
Daddy yells, "Shut UP!"
Mommy, "You know if you would be nice to her she would not bark at you."
Daddy, "Stupid dog."
Mommy, "Actually she is not stupid at all, she knows you hate her and you are the only one from this house she barks at like that."

One day Bounce walked by and Johnson said, "Uh-up." I think it took a couple times for me to put two and two together and realize what he was saying.

Since Jeff hates the dog anyway, he thinks Johnson is being a good boy telling her to "Uh-up." I, on the other hand, am left to discipline him cause he says it all the time (and sometimes in the worst of places - like in the middle of a class of 8 graders who laugh hysterically and feed his obsession)!

One day I was so tired of him saying it over and over and over, and me telling him to stop or "no" over and over and over while flicking his little mouth. I called Daddy, held the phone up to Johnson and let Jeff get an earful of what I have to deal with and what Johnson is going through, all thanks to him.

I suppose in another world or another family this would be funny. But I have always prided myself on my children being respectful and well mannered. This is NOT a good example of the behavior I desire.

I WILL return!

Life has grabbed us by the gut and flung us around the last few weeks - we have had one death and subsequent funeral about every 3 weeks. I have an ongoing list of things to write about and PROMISE to get started on them!

When you play the across town rivals...

...it will likely be the biggest game of the season. And I assure you it was! No matter that Caleb is only in 7th grade, this is BIG! I should also point out that Caleb attends our local Christian school which is considerably smaller than the community school, and through 3rd grade he attended the public school with these boys. Those things combined make it even bigger for Caleb on a personal level. Oh and then add that Jeff, my husband, is the coach and he actually graduate from the public school but has totally made the change in loyalties to our private school! Tensions run high at my house!

I would like to be able to tell you that it was David and Goliath and our team stormed across town to defeat the giant. Unfortunately that was not the case and we ended up on the wrong side of the score. It was a very close game and we were within one point even! But it was just not meant to be our day.

There were some things beyond the actual game that I took note of. Like in the 4th quarter when the game was really tight and we were threatening to take the lead. Suddenly we made some blunders and the public school went up by 4. Now I am all for cheering for your team and will be the first to yell, scream and get very involved in the excitment. But when a group of girls from public began chanting derogatory 'cheers', I was disappointed in their lack of character. At the conclusion of the game, our crowd stood and applauded our boys longer that the public school did, despite the fact we were on the losing end. Our boys also, while disappointed, did not hang their heads, cry, whine, or throw temper tantraums. And when we got home last night, neither Caleb or Jeff were terrible out of sorts about the whole thing.

It was one game of many. A big game? Yes, but still just one game.

How many times do we have situations like this in life? Where we take ONE little incident situation, or 'game' and we get all bent out of shape that it did not go our way? Or maybe it did go our way and we make so much more of it than what it is. What's the point? What really matters in life? Maybe that is something we should ponder more often.