In Hot Water

Our water bill has been rather high for the past two months (by rather high, I mean $100+) which means a leak. We spent a month looking for a leak, and we figured it must be our "you-gotta-jiggle-the-handle" toilets, so we replaced the innards of those, but the leak was not gone.

Then we found a mysterious pool of hot water in our backyard by the house. A hot spring in our yard? nope. Looking up, we could see the source--the water heater emergency drain pipe, not dripping, but poring. We went up into our attic to inspect our water heater (yep, we store literally a ton of scalding water, right over our heads, reason #1,356 why its time to move). The old heater seemed to be oozing water from several orifices--hot water. So, we're paying for water AND electricity to make our little hot spring.

The above picture is of the NEW water heater. Here are some fun facts about the installation:

Price of new water heater: $298

Price quoted from Lowes to install: $450 (difficult installation)

Price for materials for us to install: $190 (most was for tools we keep--bonus!)

Number of trips to Lowes for project: 5, so far

Number of marketable skills learned in process: 3

Number of people it takes to lift a 50 gallon water heater into an attic: 4

Number of people we had to lift a 50 gallon water heater into the attic: 2

Number of days without a shower: 2.5

Number of loads of dirty laundry waiting for us: 13

Number of date nights spent fixing the house or car: 9

Call us if you need help sweat-fitting copper pipes, installing dielectric unions, or extending a 240V electrical circuit with 10/2 wire. We know how to do all that now.

Sugar Babies

Try to imagine the most disorganised, hectic moments in your house--then multiply that by 10, and that's what the Hood's house is on Sunday mornings before Church. Mikala and Claire took advantage of Mommy and Daddy being distracted last Sunday morning, and snuck off to the laundry/pantry closet (yep, we have a small house) and found a bucket o' sugar and went to town. By the time we noticed they were hiding, I fear they got several spoonfuls of sugar down each (sneaky Mikala tried to close the bucket and play dumb as we opened the door to the closet)

Sick House

The Hood House is currently riddled with Group-A Streptococcal bacteria. You will stay away if you know what is good for you.

Amy and Mikala are mostly recovered, The parents are starting to feel better, Claire is in the middle of it, and Sara is the little miracle baby who has amazingly remained strep-negative so far.

My little munchkins (more from Grandma's House)

Sara's cute little mischief mixed with some cousin interaction

Amy's new favorite hobby...we're so proud!

Monday at Grandma Baker's

The girls got to spend all day in Newberry at Great-Grandma Baker's House--and Aunt Maria and cousin Cadence were there too. Here are some pics:

There are 4 girls in Grandma's Yard. Can you tell which ones?

Well, one of them isn't Mikala, she was sick on the couch the whole time.

Meanwhile, Claire was practicing her parallel parking.

And Cadence was getting down in the driveway.

Amy was found making her mark.

Then the little ones had some bonding time on the swing.

Crossfit Claire

Claire stands up on Mommy's hands and goes "up" and "down." Keep an eye on Sara wandering into the picture. Also, this video shows how "strong-willed" Claire can be.

Holes in Nana's House

Nana and Pops (Grandma and Grandpa Hood) had a fire in their house that started in the chimney. We took the kids to see the aftermath, hoping to make it an object lesson about the dangers of fire. Mikala was utterly enthralled with the wreckage. She jumped up and down with glee. Amy, however, was devastated.

Last Saturday Night, Amy was asked to offer the family prayer. She told Heavenly Father that "Nana's house had a fire, and Nana's house has holes in it." She asked that Nana's house could be fixed.

If you are wondering, the cause of the fire (as determined by the Fire Marshall) was faulty construction that did not allow for proper clearances between the chimney and the frame of the house. Nana and Pops are completely covered by their insurance, but will be living in an apartment for a couple of months. Pops will be doing the general contracting and much of the labor associated with the repair work.

And the result of our object lesson for the kids? As far as we can tell, Amy will never so much as roast a marshmallow over a campfire as long as she lives, and Mikala will probably burn our house to the ground as soon as she learns to strike a match.