Leaks, Leaks and More Leaks

we took the 'new' car last wed. to ryan's uncle's shop to look at the undercarriage. sure enough, ryan's assumption was correct. the oil leak is coming from the rear main seal (whatever that is). his uncle believes we can use additives that will help with the pungent odor and black smoke and it will last for years :) we shall see... i must admit the interior is wonderful as it is fully loaded - but don't be surprised if you see a bumper sticker on the back stating "don't laugh - it's paid for" :)

while at the shop, weary ellie was a bit cranky so aunt sherri gave her a powdered donut - it didn't last long.

fri. evening at bedtime ellie decided she no longer needed her dinner in her belly and out it came... all over her, me and the bed. we bathed, changed bedclothes and were suddenly forced to get a baby to sleep without nursing her. ryan had to dance with her on his shoulder while watching/listening to CMT in order to get her to sleep. was a sight. she was sick again in the middle of the night and i could not endure any CMT at 3am, so she had a little snack - kept it down and off to sleep we went. she woke sat. - played with warren - threw up. then she was perfectly fine. until the nastiness started coming from the opposite end. good night nurse was it disgusting! sunday was the exact same thing: she woke, played, puked once and blew out diapers all day. :) we were all miserable indoors, the race was delayed and the house stank so we went outside (the girls only 5 minutes). this is ellie's first time in the snow!

yesterday we were almost to the parking lot at daycare when ellie decided to barf inside her coat and shirt. back home she and i went and she spent the day with her frustrated dad :) this morning she was good as new and as fate would have it, I was the one spending quality time with the commode...
i hope to end my workday early, go home and pray diligently for spring. it has to come soon, right? i mean, come on already!

Photos

warren's birthday 0130: opening his race track

warren's birthday 0130: waving at the camera

ellie, on our friend terri's lap, when she gets excited :)

the notorious 'river otter'? ryan swears around 2 months ago he saw a river otter in the back yard. i didn't believe him. then a month ago he calls me at work to tell me it was sitting on the front porch steps and he was able to sneak up on it and take a photograph of it from behind. to me.... it looks like a damn cat :) i've also included a photo of REAL river otters... you can decide for yourselves. ha!

in the middle of the night i heard thunderous traffic and sirens pass my bedroom window. we live in a 'senior' community to be honest and sirens are nothing new to us. we woke to find sleet just starting to fall. within 30 minutes our backyard was white. truly deja vus. ryan defrosted and scraped the truck and i bundled the kids up so we could go to school and work. on main st. we immediately saw traffic at a halt, flashing lights, fire trucks, ambulances and police vehicles. i looked up and saw black smoke. the immaculate st. gemme beauvais bed and breakfast was aflame. not only is it such an integral part of our community - it is where ryan and i stayed on our wedding night... is a pretty sad day in ste. genevieve. www.bbhost.com/innstgemme/
below is the latest article in the st. louis post dispatch.


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Fire guts B & B in Ste. Genevieve
By Carolyn Tuft
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/21/2008

STE. GENEVIEVE -- A police officer on regular patrol early this morning noticed heavy smoke coming from a popular downtown bed and breakfast.
When he went to the front door of the establishment, the smoke was so thick that it pushed him back, police said. He immediately called the fire department.
Firefighters got to the fire about 3 a.m. and fought through the icy weather to control the raging fire at the Inn St. Gemme Beauvais bed and breakfast housed in a building built in 1848.
"Icicles were forming on the ladders and the ice on the ground made conditions really slippery," said Ste. Genevieve Detective Joseph DiMercurio. "It took several hours to get the fire under control."
No one was injured in the blaze. But it appears that the building was a total loss.
The fire was contained to just that building, located at Jefferson and Main streets where structures are closely spaced.
"It didn't catch to any other building," DiMercurio said.
The toughest part of the fire was that the old structure had been given multiple roofs and multiple layers of ceiling that concealed the fires between the layers, DiMercurio said.
Firefighters were still at the scene at 9:30 a.m., putting out hot spots.
The Inn St. Gemme Beauvais is said to be the oldest bed and breakfast in Missouri. The building was first built as a home for Felix Rozier. It was a three-story brick colonial mansion. Janet Joggerst, the innkeeper, was unavailable for comment this morning.

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the weather does not seem to be letting up, and with only 4 people in the office today i do think we'll get to close early! ryan's already started homemade chili so i'm ready for pajamas, a blanket and the couch :)

Rocking Tigger

Snow and Science

Warren and Ryan's snowman.

Warren and Ellie building blocks at the St. Louis Science Center.

Trying to keep the kids together...
Ellie in her stroller with Mom pushing her, Warren, Josie and Gram.
(I know, we are far from professional photographers. ha!)

Ellie (center) helping the kids put together a spaceship.

Ice, Love and 'Junk' Cars

has been some time since i've posted anything. i'll certainly blame it on the weather...
a week ago today the st. louis weathermen threatened us with inches of ice. two weeks earlier they forecasted a foot of snow - which we only received 3 inches. therefore i wasn't too worried about possible ice. before noon our daycare provider phoned me to inform they were closing at 2pm. the first time in 17 years... i thought perhaps i should actually look outside. was a total shock. i had to take ryan the truck in order for him to get the kids and it took me almost 20 minutes to defrost, thaw and scrape. was miserable.
the ice never stopped falling. continued throughout the night into early tuesday morning. it was as if the entire town had shut down. no traffic, closed businesses and gracious school children kept home. the ice lasted a week and now local kids have a week to makeup school in the summer. why don't adults get snow days? :)
we took it in stride keeping warm with homemade soups and extra layers. a few bruises remain from slips and falls but overall we handled it well. rain started falling friday evening and as the snow/ice has mostly melted we are left with a swamp for a yard and mud for a driveway. have to love this missouri weather!


warren celebrated valentine's day at school on fri. and announced to his teachers that it was important he love everybody that day! :) he came home with a basket full of goodies and that in itself amazes me. when i was a child we had valentine cards. that was it. perhaps someone taped a sucker to their card but we were elated to simply have bugs bunny say 'hoppy valentine's day'... my son comes home with playdoh, tattoos, pencils, slinkys and enough chocolate to last until easter. i can't imagine where some parents have the energy or finances to be so elaborate. i have made homemade treats in the past for various holidays but with 2 children and working full-time - their classmates are lucky to receive anything at all. ha!


we have survived the past 2 years with only one vehicle. it has worked out well but there have been instances when one of us really needed the truck when the other had it. lest i mention the times the truck has had to spend time with the mechanic. how thankful we are for our close friends and neighbors. my well-off sister :) was able to purchase a mini van recently and offered us her old car. i seriously needed a vehicle that would get me and the kids to school and work each day - we're talking 3 miles roundtrip - tops. we jumped at the chance to buy this vehicle. we didn't have the ability to drive to columbia and back to pick up the car so we chose to meet in st. louis yesterday at the science center. both sisters families came. talk about chaos! the place was packed, the kids hard to keep an eye on and within an hour the parents were utterly exhausted. the dads really wanted to take part in the morbid 'body works' exhibit but tickets were sold out immediately. thankfully we were able to visit a short while and the license plate-free car made it back to ste. gen without getting pulled over! hopefully by the end of the week we'll have the car licensed and titled - then ryan will FINALLY have his truck back! he is already excited about cleaning it and getting rid of my crap :)
hope you are all well and keeping warm. i'll attempt to post some photos this afternoon...
jlc

Returning To Normal (whatever that is)

don't worry, dana, i'll take a foot of snow over sick kids any day! :)

things seem to be calming down in our house thankfully. when i arrived home tues. from work at noon ellie was a pistol! she was laughing, running everywhere and really delightful. i was thrilled that the treatments were working! we stayed up as late as possible to watch the exciting primary returns but couldn't hold out.
wed. morning ellie woke up wheezing again. was scary but after 2 treatments she was fine. this morning she went to daycare with her breathing machine in tow... i'm quite blessed to have such a wonderful facility to take my kids to! so far they haven't phoned, so let us hope she is over the worst of it.

on a completely different note: any ideas for homemade valentine's for warren's class? 2 years ago i made homemade 'kisses' out of rice krispy treats molded in a funnel. they were wrapped in alum. foil and his greeting was the paper sticking out (i'm never doing that again and do not recommend it!) :D
last year i made 2.5x4 cards with his photo (him playing in the snow) on them - folded over. this year i was wanting something different but not too complicated. i'll take all the suggestions out there :)

It Never Ends

i HAVE to stop reading dana's blog... it brings the counts' bad luck. ha! :)

ellie started coughing friday evening... nothing worrisome. we started pediacare and saturday stayed indoors while the boys went out to build a snowman. (photos soon to follow) sat. evening she felt a little warm so as a precaution we gave her a dose of tylenol. sun. morning her cough was worse and she indeed had a fever. we medicated her, held her (nonstop) and by early afternoon she was playing and acting normal. we had a gathering for the super bowl game and even during that she was a joy. at bedtime she wasn't feeling well. by the middle of the night she was burning up and wheezing.
we took her to the dr. this morning and she has a severe respiratory infection. the first words out of the dr's mouth was "admitting her in the hospital for two days..." and i started bawling :) i swear my mom would slap me sometimes if she could see how wimpy i am!
ryan discussed options with the dr. and we finally settled on renting a nebulizer and administering treatments at home. the nurse gave her one treatment while we were there and her oxygen levels rose so we are praying this will keep us from having to pack our bags for an overnight stay away from home.
we'll make it - but i have to admit i am REALLY anxious for spring!