A New CAR!

    Ok, we didn't get a new car, but it feels like it.  For the past several months our steering in the Denali has been.... not good, at least when we want to turn right.  You can turn left all day but turning right was a whole other story.  Now don't worry, this wasn't a problem in normal driving but when you were stopped, parking, backing up, or anytime you were braking or going really slow the car just froze up on the steering but only turning to the right.  This was really obnoxious and highly frustrating.  There's nothing more embarrassing then trying to parallel park on a busy street and you literally can't without giving it some gas while using the brake at the same time.  Not easy or fun!  First Greg tried fixing the steering pump.  This took him all day and cost a couple hundred dollars.  He thought it was fixed, drove the car home from his bosses shop (where he'd done the work), pulled into the garage and the same problem.  He was NOT happy!  So another month goes by while he thinks about what else it could be and talks to several other people who might have some suggestions.  Finally he decides it might be the gear box so another couple hundred dollars is spent and this time only a few hours and he replaces this part and YES we have success and I can't tell you how amazing it is to drive the car now and actually be able to park in any direction and not have to plan in advance the best left hand spot or avoid certain spots altogether.  It's funny the things we take for granted every day.
   And the other amazing thing is that I have a husband who is so handy and clever that he can fix something like this without a manual and little to no help.  He may cuss a little in the process but he won't give up until he figures it out and the amout of money he's saved us over the years in so many ways is immeasurable.  He's AH-MAZING!!  (And pretty good looking if you don't mind me saying!)

Just a few shots of my Amazing Husband!!!  (I didn't take photos of him actually fixing the car, you'll just have to visualize that in your own heads.)

Valentine's Day!

 So this week we celebrated Valentine's Day and it was also Mark's 6th grade Valentine's dance. Here are a few photos of both events.

Doing the Macarena

Poor kid had to dance with mom, twice!!  This was about the only photo of me from the front, for some reason all the photos Greg took are of my backside, weird!

Dancing with his friend and neighbor, Avery.

This is after the dance. 

We deocrated sugar cookies the night before Valentine's.

This was one big sugar cookie because Mom can only make so many smaller ones before she loses interest.

Here's Kayli's Valentine pancakes she made everyone first thing in the morning.  What a good girl.

And then it was finally time for our candlelight dinner.

Mark was in charge of the matches.

They all loved the punch, candles and most of them enjoyed the roast.

    So that was definitely the highlight of our week.  The kids were so well behaved eating around the table that we may have to do this more often.  Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day.  And a shout out to my sister Jackie for taking time out of her Valentine's day to watch Brock and McClane so I could attend Mark's dance.  You're the best, little Sis, thanks again!
 

A Couple of Things

   So I mentioned in my last post about Isaac having a bit of a fit a couple weeks ago at his basketball game.  So this past week at his game his Aunt Kristin came to watch and promised him a trip to Wendy's if he could keep his cool, which he did, so the next night Aunt Kristin and Grandma Kmetzsch took Isaac to Wendy's.  They were gone for quite awhile.  When they brought him home they mentioned he'd spent a lot of time coloring a picture for some contest at Wendy's they were having that night sponsored by Wendy's and the Scouts.  Isaac was convinced he'd win and low and behold the phone rang a little after 8 p.m. and he'd won the coloring contest. (His excitement level was over the top!) So we went in the next afternoon and picked up his prize, two free kids meals and two free combo meals.  Not quite enough to feed our whole family, but half of us and that's always a good thing.  So we took Isaac and the rest of the family that night for dinner.  It was fun and miraculously all the kids were VERY well behaved.

Here's Isaac's winning coloring job.  (Sorry it's sideways but I don't have it in me to rotate it.)

Here's Brock enjoying our Wendy's dinner.

Greg, McClane and Kayli also enjoyed their meal.

Carter all sprawled out enjoying his burger.

And Mark with the coloring contest winner, Isaac living it up sitting at their own table.

And just for fun this is just a small sample of one of the many messes McClane likes to make throughout the day and this happens several times a day and this is just one room of several he likes to "work" in.

McClane likes to take the markers from the drawer and put them in the sink.

This may not look like a big mess to others but it's such a small kitchen that having even one thing on the floor makes me start to feel claustrophobic.

And then Greg gets to cuddle and nap with the little monster.  That just doesn't seem right!

  So that's my weekly report.  Lets hope we get to enjoy the week to come.  Valentine's day is always a party at school at least.  (And mom usually scores a few free pieces of candy from the stash the kids bring home.) It's the big sixth grade dance for Mark so plan on a few fun photos from that.

I've got Nothin'

    It's been a pretty quiet week at this Kmetzsch household.  The carpet is fabulous and I love it more and more.  The kids have been some what obedient about not eating or drinking in the basement but of course Brock and McClane don't really understand that rule so we're working on that.  The new layout with the computer desk is not at all conducive with a 16 monther roaming around but we're making it work because I really like the way the furniture is laid out right now.  I guess I'll just have to get use to my desk being attacked by McClane when I'm not around to stop him.
    Mark has a basketball game in just a little while and Isaac had one earlier this week and it was a close game.  Unfortunately Isaac did not make any of his shots but he sure tried.  He left a very upset boy though and was ready to "KILL" #24 on the other team who apparently was fouling him left and right.  His tantrum/rage went on for quite some time and he even threatened leaders of other countries which I can't really explain but he was beyond reasoning with.  Lets hope next game goes better.
    I hate to blog without at least one photo so let me share my latest image I've put on my desktop this week.  This is one cute boy and it's hard to believe he's nearly 7 years old, presenting Carter at about 1 1/2 years old.

Have a great week!