Laundry Quarters

Does the title of this post bring back nostalgic memories of the days when you used the laundromat? I didn't think so.

Today's post is about the handy skills of the Lynchs. I am sure many of you are saying...WHAT?! The Lynchs are not handy!

WRONG! We ARE handy!

Yesterday, as we were running 1 of our many many loads of dirty laundry, the washer suddenly made a terrible noise like someone stuck a piece of metal in a fan while it was running. This is not good for a fan and certainly can NOT be good for a washer. After successfully repairing our fancy (yet crappy) dishwasher a few weeks ago we decided that we would give it a try on the washer. I started scouring the internet for a solution to our washer noise. It seems that most people who reported hearing the awful grinding had a coin or some other foreign object in the drain pump. Everyone said, "It was simple to remove the drain pump, dump the coin and put it back in!". So, surely the Lynchs can do that. After unstacking the dryer from the top of the washer in a closet that is only about 2" wider than the W/D itself, getting to the bottom of the washer and unscrewing the 4 screws... sure enough it was a quarter causing all the ruckus. We successfully reassembled the washer and restacked the unreasonably tight fitting dryer and ran the test load. IT WORKED! Thus proving my theory...

The Lynch ARE in fact handy!

Now on to the treadmill...it seems that the walking belt is in need of replacement.

Happy Birthday to Nolan

(pics from top L to bottom R:1 yr, 2 yr, 3 yr, 4 yr.)
Yesterday was a big day at our house, the baby of the family turned 4 years old! He has proven his worth in turning 4 this week by accomplishing several milestones that seem to have just cropped up on their own. He is now wearing big boy undies ALL the time, even at night. He can zip his own coat and buckle his own seat belt in his booster. I love the excitement that comes with each new thing he learns. He is quite proud of all his new accomplisments.

As is tradition with this blog (if you can have tradition after only a few months...) I am going to post 10 things to love about Nolan. Feel free to add on as you see fit.

1. Your big blue eyes are amazing!
2. You make everyone laugh at our house, even Quinn.
3. You taught me how to enjoy being a parent.
4. You love all things boy; cars, trucks, planes, boats, bikes, dirt.
5. You love to help me in the kitchen and look super cute in your apron.
6. You love to be center stage and you want everyone else to join you there.
7. You are forever making friends everywhere we go.
8. You want to be a clown when you grow up.
9. You are super snuggly.
10. You have forced me to slow down and take a new look at life through your eyes.

I love you Nolan Miles! Happy Birthday Little Man.

100 Days, a Deer Trap, Head Casts and Other Random Stuff

<----1st day

100th day -->

Yesterday was Quinn's 100th day at school. I have made 100 lunches, and driven back and forth to school over 200 times and he has learned at least 1,000 new things and most likely many many more. He loves being a kindergartener.

Yesterday was also one of those day where all sorts of random but funny things happen.

On the way to school, we were talking about how upset we were that the deer was eating our cute little apple trees all to bits when Quinn decided he had a solution. He said "Ok, we can put a hammock between the two trees and then you can tie me and Nolan to the hammock and we will have bowls with coconuts in them. We will be really quiet and when the deer comes you and Daddy will flip us over in the hammock and we will spill the coconuts on the deer. I bet that will keep them away!" I see a few flaws in the plan but what the heck, I am sure the end result will be effective.

Tuesday is also one of the days Nolan goes to school. As we were driving to school I was encouraging him on things he could pretend that some of his other friends might know about, such as Diego the pet rescuer. When we got to school Nolan immediately informed Mrs. Cocks that he was Diego and he brought animal rescue items in his bag like "band-aids, head casts and arm casts just in case any of the animals gets hurt". How Mrs. Cocks and I kept a straight face I will never know.

At the end of the day while I was making dinner I got to the last line of my recipe and it said "let cool 10 min. before feeding to your pup". After rereading it at least 5 times I vaguely remembered reading something on Rachel Rays website about recipes for pets. Apparently this one serves a dual purpose and we should have invited our dog friends to dine with us last night. Interestingly enough, all the humans in our family loved it until they found out it was supposed to be dog food. Eating dog food does run in Jim's family (you know who you are!).

I also discovered yesterday that no matter how many applications of eye make-up remover you use it will not take away dark cicles under your eyes. Really, it doesn't!

My Little Protector of the Universe

Nolan's current alias is "Earth Ace- Planet Hero". As always, when Nolan has an alias, I have a corresponding one. Today's was "Dazzle- planet hero from Venus". As we entered the car wash today to remove all the snow, ice and other disgusting winter grime from our lovely van I hear "Don't worry Dazzle! I will protect you from all those soapy monsters! Planet Heros on the way!" Who could worry when you have such a diligent hero by your side.

Fun in the Snow

There are not many things I like about winter in the MidWest. When the temps are below 20 and everywhere you look there is white, white and more white with snow and it makes everything you own dirty and wet it is hard to like it. There are other times though when I can see it through the eyes of my kids and see that there are things to love about a cold winter. Today was one of those days. All the stars aligned today, the temperature was close to 32 (which means I can tolerate being outside for more than 2 seconds), there was plenty of snow on the ground, and school was out! When all these things fall into place we can get on our winter gear and enjoy it so we headed to the golf course to make roller coasters out of pieces of plastic, white fluffy powder and big big hills. Every year I love the days we sled like this but I do not ever think you will truly get this native Texan to say she LIKES winter here in Iowa. As Quinn said today "I can't wait until we go sledding again!"
Enjoy the videos!

Where once there was a...

Where once there was a playroom, a guestroom, 2 boys....

This seems to be the continuing story of the old beautiful house that we live in. The collage above is composed of pictures from each of the different functions the huge open attic space has had here. When we moved in we were sure that this space would be the family room, replacing our big basement family room at the old house. Unfortunately, the couch wouldn't fit up the stairs and after a good cry on moving day we had to rethink our plan. This landed the family room on the main level in a sun porch very crowded with furniture.

Once we knew the attic couldn't be our family room we decided that we would use it as a playroom/guest room. What we didn't realize was that the guest room function would be it's most important use. For several months we had another family living in that attic space which never could have happened if that couch had fit up the stairs. Funny how those things work out, isn't it? (The picture in the lower right corner is of the attic when John and Ellie were here. )

When the guest room was vacant again we realized that we were not maximizing the space we had in this new bigger house. Jim was still working in our room, we were cramped in our family room and we didn't really have a playroom. SO, we rearranged again. The boys moved up to the attic to share a room, a very daring thing for their parents to attempt. Quinn's old room gave Jim his 1st actual in home office space and Nolan's old room turned into the guest room. (the bottom left 2 pics are of the boys' attic room) While Jim, the boys, and our guests loved this arrangement there was still the problem of a cramped family room and no playroom in the main level to be dealt with. So.....

After much discussion about how we could solve these problems we rearranged again for hopefully the last time. We moved the 2 big arm chairs and the very very very heavy TV from the main level up the attic and made that our new family room.(see top right pic) We love having carpet in our cozy space and we love that the neighbors can't see us watching TV everytime they pull in the driveway. The boys are now bunked in a bedroom on the 2nd floor and love sharing a room closer to us. We made that sunroom into a glorious bright and sunny playroom with all sorts of room for superhero and race car action to take place and a cozy red couch to watch it all from becuase after all.... it still doesn't fit up the stairs.

Starbucks Whore

I pulled into the local Starbucks drive-thru today to get my usual peppermint mocha fix without thinking much of it. As I was paying, the trip Starbucks turned ugly. Quinn decided today was the day to out me as a Starbucks whore. He rolled down his window and from the back seat I hear my 6 year old shout to the lady handing me my lovely cup of coffee, " My mom comes here everyday! She is wasting all her money on coffee!". Horrified, I was clawing at the door panel to get the window rolled up before anymore damage could be done. I smiled a sweet, "I have no idea what he is talking about" smile and promptly drove away. All the while Quinn is telling me how I should have a little more self-control and not have coffee at Starbucks EVERYDAY.

I really should keep that window lock on.