Birthday Plus

I meant to do a post right after TW's birthday, but, for a myriad of reasons, never got around to it... until today (actually, yesterday, because that's when I loaded the pictures)!!!

Last time we chatted, I shared how I got my first born (baby) boy.  Since then, his 7th (YIKES) birthday has come and gone.  To celebrate, he picked, baked and decorated his own cake.  I supervised, helped stir, did the oven placement/removal, and insured that our traditional Curious George was in place.  In case you were wondering, that big "glob" of white icing is a pyramid.  Have I mentioned that he really likes Egypt right now???

TW's present from J and me was a .22 rifle.  He loves it and said this was the best birthday ever!!!  And just an FYI, this gun is not loaded in the picture, is never loaded in the house, is not loaded by him, is stored in a gun safe (I don't even know where the key is) and TW must recite 4 safety rules before he can even handle it :)

Though we did not get to go to the zoo on his actual birthday, we did go a week(ish) later.  And we visited the much anticipated DynoTrek!!!  Pretty Girl did not like the moving/roaring dino displays, but everyone else did ;)

Alright, I take it back- she liked the little jungle gym in the middle of the trek and the dino dig at the end... my bad!

Last week, J was promoted.  We all went to help "pin" his new rank on and see Daddy's work.  On the way out, all the kids squeezed into one turn stile. The idea was good, however, the follow through needs a little work!

Back at the ranch or is it a plantation, since we're in the south ...

J changed out our water heaters.  We ditched the calcium filled, 1983, 50 gallon yellow one, for a 80 gallon, 2013, digital display, stainless steel version.  Apparently families of 5+ use more hot water... go figure!

We had some massive rain right after my last post (or during, I can't remember now).  Our septic backed up (again).  So, our Saturday night showers became Saturday afternoon runs in the rain followed up by a warm rinse and hair wash in the garage.

So, upon further inspection we (as in our local plumber) found the dozer tank pump to be bad (the brand new one) and our drain field pipes full of roots and sand.  Earlier this week, the plumber, his sidekick (pictured here) and his dad all came to replace our hill!  We were so blessed to have men from church who we knew and trusted to do the work.  This fine man has three kids of his own and very graciously let mine help him out!!!

TW and I tried out the grit and fire ant theory (sprinkle plain grits around your ant hill, add more if needed (I did, three times), ants swallow grits, grits expand in ant bellies, no more ants).  I was a bit skeptical, but grits are cheap.  It worked!!!  The crack in front of our door is devoid of ants ;)

TW decided that the chicks needed some entertainment, so he "built" them a ramp and a toy thingy :)

Our pool, chemically, is ready to go... there are still a few leaves and some algae which is very slowly going away (it should be, we're on our 4th filter).  We decided to go ahead and use the thing, even if the water is still a bit cool for my taste :)  The kids didn't seem to care what the temperature was.  Pretty Girl ran and jumped in with no fear.  Berry just played on the steps and the edge (and screamed if anyone, Daddy included, enticed her further) and Mr. E tried to jump in, misjudged, hit his bottom, slid into the pool, bobbed sideways in his floater and refused to kick until I eventually gave in and hauled him out.  He spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the edge of the pool, splashing with his feet and hands :)

In Other News:  While the plumbing was backed up, I had to get creative with clothes washing (funny how a family of 7 manages to run out of underwear (me), pants (kids) and black t-shirts (J) :)  I drained the washer into a bin and then carted it out a bucket full at a time.  Anyway, I set my (3 1/2 year old) iPad on the washer, forgetting that J had not balanced the washer since we moved.  The rinse cycle threw my poor friend into a bucket full of water, which I didn't notice right away.  I tried drying it out for days in rice, but alas, it is gone.  I got a new iPad2 last week and a water proof, kid proof, me proof, "Life Proof"case!