Yay for heat!

Wednesday, October 14th: Zoe offered to make dinner (hot dogs) and set the table for me after I called the kids inside to clean up and get ready for dinner. It was very sweet and very helpful!

My mom came over after work to watch the younger kids while I took Zoe and Emily to their soccer practice. Matt was at a work meeting. It was 40 degrees out, but practice went on until around 6:15 when it was too dark to practice anymore. Harmony and I sat in the Yukon and talked while we watched the last practice of the season.

I played a game of Phase 10 with my mom before she headed home.

Zach and Kate are still in too much pain to eat solid food. Zach is looking forward to eating cereal again!

I counted Weight Watchers Points today. I think I'll count points on the days that Matt isn't home for dinner. I'm not keeping track of how much I weigh and I'm not going to be obsessive about losing weight during the holidays, but I know I've gained weight in the last few months, so I'm going to cut back on my eating when the temptations of super yummy food aren't there. I'm also trying to drink more water to fill me up. You're a good influence on me, Andrea!

Thursday, October 15th: Noah had his 15 month check-up today. He is 32" tall (75th percentile) and weighs a little over 23lbs (25th percentile). He received 2 shots and whined for a second and then he was fine. The nurse said that his legs might be too sore to walk for awhile, but he walked out of the doctor's office without a hint of pain. Zach and Kate colored during Noah's appointment. The nurse was very impressed with Zach's coloring. He did very good staying within the lines.

I finally got Zach, Kate, and Noah's pictures ready to be mailed out to family. I've only had them hanging around for 3-7 months now! Zach and Kate painted while I worked on the pictures. Noah was taking a nap.

Our furnace started making a funny noise this afternoon. It died right before we sat down for dinner. Matt made some phone calls to see if it could be fixed this evening, but the earliest it can be fixed is tomorrow morning. The kids bundled up in warm pjs, robes, coats, sleeping bags, and a down comforter. Zoe said she felt like they were camping out. I think this experience will help us to appreciate our heat the rest of the winter!

Matt made the best spaghetti that we have ever made at our house this evening. He used tomatoes from our garden and he used green pepper that we got from Andrea. It feels good to use food from our garden and other gardens. I made breadsticks to go with the spaghetti, but they weren't as good as the spaghetti...although Eleanor mostly ate breadsticks, so I think she would disagree.

Zach and Kate are feeling better. They ate yogurt this morning and by the afternoon, they were eating solid food. Zach was so excited that he could eat again! He is looking forward to eating cereal tomorrow.

I didn't count ww points today since I knew we were having spaghetti for dinner. I'm too lazy to figure out the ww points value of a meal. I didn't eat much during the day, so I saved most of my points (if I was counting) for dinner, so I felt good about that.

I've been thinking about our financial situation this evening and I realized how it has changed the things I want money for. I want to be able to fill the gas tank in the Yukon whenever it needs to be filled, I want to make meals for my family when we want them, I want to be able to go grocery shopping when I need to, I want to be able to pay for the girls' lunches every week, I want to buy health insurance for my family...not from the government, I want to be able to buy outerwear and clothes when we need them...I could go on, but you get the picture. I feel so rich when we can provide these necessities for our family!

Today: It was so COLD when we got up this morning. Sleeping wasn't a problem in the cold, but getting ready for the day was miserable. The girls are always cold in the morning when the heat is set on 70, so the 50 degrees was torture. I had just put on my comfy, warm wool socks when I stepped in a puddle of water on the kitchen floor. What the? I HATE when my socks get wet. Hate it, hate it, hate it! Where is this water coming from? The washer. My first thought was that we would have to get the washer fixed as well...when it rains it pours!, but then I remembered that we had moved the washer on Monday, so one of the hoses must have come loose. I could hear water dripping from behind the washer. When Roy arrived at 7:30am to fix the furnace, I first asked him to look at the washer. He tightened one of the clamps and the problem was fixed. Whew! Our heat was working again a little after 8am this morning. Hearing the furnace working again was music to my ears! Zach noticed the difference between no heat and heat when he said, "It's warm in here now...even my feet are warm!" Yes, it was worth the money we dished out to get our heat working again!