When life gives you lemons (or a busted water pipe)....

well, it's been just over a month now and we're still living with my parents. will and I are back to school, I'm back to my masters classes, and Ryan continues to bust his butt on the house in his spare time. he's becoming quite the master of home improvement! we are probably a week away from getting to move home, and we're so excited! we have been so blessed to have such tremendous help from so many people, it brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. #1 we could be living in a hotel, but we get to stay here, each with our own room, having meals cooked for us and our laundry done for us. aside from the crazy pooping dog, it's perfect! #2 Ryan, Dad and Greg Wayne have spent countless hours putting our house back together again. it is going to be like a brand new house now thanks to their hard work and selfless time spent helping. #3 Mom is at our house as I write staining our new kitchen cabinets, pantry and trim (oh yeah, and she watches our kids every day while I'm at work) I thought I'd post a few before and after pics for everyone's viewing pleasure. this is mostly the kitchen since it has had the biggest makeover. you see it after the cabinets are torn out, with the new cabinets, then with the new stained cabinets and our spectacular floor and backsplash. I also threw one in of our spacious new pantry choc full of shelves! and of course the kids are included. they have been such troopers through this whole mess. it has been a little rough lately since our life is usually fairly scheduled, predictable and structured, but considering, they are doing well. We hope this finds everyone happy, healthy, warm and dry!

Thoughts

I don't even have a picture for this one. I just had to write. Today was inaguration day for Barack Obama. Throughout this whole election process, Will has taken quite an interest. He knew the candidates, and tended to favor Obama. Today when all of the preceeding footage of the inaguration was on TV, Mom was telling him about how he was going to become president today. (I had already left for work.) She said he was really interested in it, and that he was going to tell his teacher that it was Barack Obama day. When I got home and said something about it, he said, "I know." like I was telling him way old news.

Tonight after we brushed teeth, he asked if daddy could be president. I said I guessed, but that he would probably just be his daddy. He thought that was a big enough job. I agree! A little bit later, he said, "Remember how I'm gonna be a daddy when I grow up?" I said yes, and then I just prayed that he didn't say he wanted to be president, too! Well, he said, "I want to be a pilot, too." I breathed a sigh of relief, and said ok. Pfew!

Smiling again

Last week I actually had a pretty good "come to Jesus" moment with my good friend, Virginia, the insurance lady. As we were looking at the more extensive damage that happened in the basement I told her that we noticed mold. She basically cut me off and said that mold is NEVER covered by insurance and that we were just very lucky that it all happened to be tied into the initial water leak claim. This was the first time that I could honestly say that I was thankful that this all happened to us! Oh my gosh! What if we hadn't discovered the other wet spots? We would have had mold growing in the basement, which could have turned into such a terrible problem! So, yes, I've griped, I've cried, I've snapped at way too many people because I was upset about the whole thing, but now I'm all better! I just really believe that this must have happened for a reason. How interesting that this time last year (almost exactly) we were moving into our home. Now it's almost like we're doing it all over again. Thank God we've been able to get so much of the put-back done so that now we can start thinking about moving back in. There's still a lot to do, and with two little friends in tow, working, and 12 hours of masters classes looming, it's like one step forward and two (or 10) steps back. We'll get there, though, and we'll be so much stronger for it!

We are so grateful to all who have helped us out one way or another! Thank God for family and friends!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Patsy Lee WilliamsThis Blog is a birthday tribute to my Grandma Huggins. She turned 80 today!

I could never write all there is to say about my grandma. She is such a vibrant, loving, passionate, incredible woman. When I think of her strength, it brings tears to my eyes. When I think of all the memories I have of her, my mind swims. I am so proud to have been named after her. She is a truly amazing wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I hope that when I'm 80 I'll have the same gumption for life and love of learning that she does.

My son is named after her son, and although he sometimes struggles with communicating it, he so loves her, as I do.

Happy Birthday, Grandma! I love you!

Christmas Break '08

One of the many perks to being a teacher (besides the ginormous salary) is getting two weeks off for Christmas break. This has been one for the books. Allow me to attempt to relive it for you. Day one of break: Stacy, Kevin and Viv are here. Kids are extatic! (Sammy hates sharing Grandma!)Day two: more family fun!

Day three: I host the first annual Huggins women cookie get together. Food, fun, and cookies, what more can you ask for?

Day four: come down from the sugar high. Staci and Eddie in town from Boston!
Day five: after a fun-filled day at Crown Center come home to find water running down my driveway on an otherwise dry day. Hmmm...(I thought to myself calmly) this isn't right. Enter my house to find rain. Wait a minute...rain? Inside? Oh, yeah, definitely not supposed to be happening! Have a slight coniption fit, remember I have children in the car. Plant them on the couch, call Dad, call Ryan, call Insurance company.

Evening five: My sister attempts to drown my sorrows with tequila but I abstain. I just cry a lot instead.

Day 6-11: avoid the fact that my house has flooded, move to my parents, have a wonderful Christmas, have every meal cooked for us, laundry done for us, and set up shop in our little apartment in the basement.

Day 10: Along with cousins and aunts and uncles, have Grandma's 80th surprise birthday party.
Day 13-present: See blog post below. I can't post those pics again.So here we are. Two days before we go back to school. We're discovering more wet spots in the house. They tore out cabinets in the basement today. Ryan, Dad and Greg (Staci's dad) busted their butts today working again. Thank God for good people to help and thank God for family to surround us! As Grandma Moore told me on Christmas Eve, "This too, shall pass."

Until then...just look at the kids!! How can you keep from smiling?

Winter WATER Wonderland

the guys hanging new sheetrock in the garage. hez, thanks for lending your husband even though baby Stella is about to pop out! the pretty white linoleum (sp?) floor circa 1985 which the insurance estimator thought was "just fine".

the doorway from the dining room into the kitchen that didn't used to have a hole in the ceiling or the sheetrock removed from the wall. it used to have a door frame too!

more exposed ceiling and what used to be my laundry area. what am I complaining about? I haven't had to do laundry in 2 weeks!

I'm sparing anyone the basement which I believe is being ripped to smitherines as we speak.

Hope everyone had a wonderful (and dry) holiday! I'll post again with pics of Christmas. Despite our disaster (and my sarcasm), we had a great Christmas with the whole family!

We are really so so blessed!

I mean, we could be staying at the Best Western instead of Huggins Hotel. (OK, last sarcastic comment, I swear!)

You Better Not Pout...

so about a week ago on my day off I decided it would be "christmas card photo shoot day". I got the kids all froofed up in their new christmas sweaters, and plunked them in front of the tree to take a darling christmas card picture for all to "ooh" and "ahh" over.

97 pictures later (not kidding!), I had 1 of the two of them together that was worth putting on a card. this was after bribing them with various forms of candy. i had a lot of good ones of will because he was into the bribery and understood the whole concept of a good pic for the card.

sam, on the other hand, could have cared less about our stinking christmas card! by the end of the "shoot" she had removed her dress and hair barette and was in her tights, red bloomers and red sparkley shoes. when she would stand with will she refused to smile and even resorted to shutting her eyes! she was a "peach" to say the least.

let's just say, we're really hoping that santa has a special 2 and a half-year-old forgiveness clause, cuz miss sammylou is gonna need it!