Santa Came Early... Well, Sort of.

Two or three nights ago, we started hearing some really strange sounds coming from our attic. Tuesday night, or rather 3:00am Wednesday morning, I climbed into the attic to see what was all the clatter.

Was it Santa Claus? One of his elves? Rudolph?

Since the sound was only audible when the furnace was running, I decided to check it out first (it's the only thing in our attic that could make this sound). During the next cycle, I determined that it was coming from the blower. After reading the owners manual, (left next to the furnace), I read that the blower was a "sealed system" that never would need to be lubricated. However, when I felt around, and saw quite a bit of grease on my hands, I quickly determined that it was no longer sealed. That was the dead give away as to why it sounded like the blower was seizing up at the end of the cycle.

I called the company that installed the furnace when the home was built almost exactly three years ago. They told me that the furnace was still under warranty and that no amount of maintenance could have prevented this problem, HOWEVER, we would have to pay labor costs estimated at $150. We made the appointment for Thursday morning at 9:30am.

I won't rant about the quality of furnace that was installed in our house. But really, it's only THREE YEARS OLD!!!!!

Last night before bed, we kicked the furnace up to 75-degrees and would shut it off when it got there. The blower sounded hideous to say the least. We shut it off at 71-degrees and hoped that the insulation in the house would keep us from freezing until they came this morning.

It was nice and cool this morning in our house. Not as cold as I expected, but too cold for Cheryl—rather her concern for "H." We woke up to A and C on the floor in our bedroom (not an uncommon occurance, even when the furnace is working properly).

As scheduled, the repair was made and it came to $15 less than estimated. My mom called Cheryl today to see if it was fixed yet and how close to estimated it came to. She told her that it was, and it wasn't as bad as expected.

When Cheryl told me that my mom had called, I immediately checked our account balance. Sure enough, my mom had made a small donation to help us recover from our set back.

Thanks mom!!! I guess that Santa did come early... well, sort of.

Thunder Thighs

Okay, I took Heidi in for her second flu shot today and was expecting the normal screaming that comes with the combination of babies and shots. As the nurse is giving her the shot Heidi just continued grinning up at her and never once let out a whimper. Seriously, that girl has got some biggggg thighs!!!!!

"We're off to Trick 'r Treat......."

Happy Halloween!!!

I love Halloween!!! In fact I always have loved it, but adding little ones to the picture makes it even twice the fun. Since C was barely two-years-old she's had a fascination with the "Wizard of Oz." We'll never forget being on a car trip and C at the young age of two out of the blue said, "Give me back your ruby slippers, they're of no use to you!" The fascination has continued ever since and there's never a day that goes by where C isn't having to wear a blue dress, or is found carrying around a tattered old basket with a raggedy Toto (who's a white poodle) inside. Therefore, we dedicated this Halloween to the Wizard of Oz.

A was a great sport through all of this. I don't think that being a witch for Halloween was top on her list but she happily gave in when we presented her the option. Tyler used his creative skills to make her a wicked broom out of materials left over from our yard and a bamboo stick. And of course Cambry was Dorothy complete with ruby red slippers (red church shoes) on her feet.

We went to A's Halloween Parade at her Elementary School and we're excited to find out the the 1st grade teacher's theme was none other than the "Wizard of Oz." C was so excited when she saw Glinda, so of course we had to take her picture with her. Also along the way we ran into the Cowardly Lion, The Tin Man, and A's teacher was the friendly Scarecrow.

Along the way Dorothy decided to stray from her usual behavior and picked up a lonely pirate along with a ballerina munchkin along the way. Of course, Aunty Em (or boring Mommy) was the one behind the camera.

Using a Little More Caution

To borrow from my sister-in-law's blogging style, we have decided to remove the actual names of our children from our blog entries (Thanks Ganelle!).

We don't want to take our blog private, but we do want to protect the identities of our children a little more.

As visitors to our blog, and when referring to our children in comments, please use their first initial in all references (comments with actual names will not be posted).

Come One, Come All

We want to add more family and friends to our blog list. We value your friendship, and as the holidays approach, we would love to keep in touch with you.

If your family's blog is not already listed, please post a reply or comment to this entry and we'll add you to the list.