What's going on?

Okay.. you people want to know what is going on in my big crazy household?? Here goes.

James and Dylan are sick. Presumably with the same cold that the rest of us have had... but they are feeling pretty punky with it. So... they are being pretty quiet.

Lexi and R.J. are at school and doing pretty well there. I am really proud of them.

Here in Karptown... we are trying to finish up school. We are working fast and furiously on the kids books. They are "due" today... so I don't think we will make the official presentation... but they will be done by next week so we can have our own little "reading" of the books. Yea! I told Bekah that they will NEVER get their own books until I die. That is sort of my paycheck. I love them. The girls each have written four and the boys each two. Very cool. It is really neat to see the progression of storyline and illustrations over the years. For Caleb's we use pictures which are just too cute. I really love these books.

Katie is about to get braces. Today I have to call our sweet Dentist and tell him that we are not going to use him... that we sought a second opinion and that we are going to use him....
The second opinion is A LOT MORE EXPENSIVE... but he is going to try and save her teeth, while the first guy wanted to pull 4. Katie is much relieved and is actually ready now. She will be in braces for about two years. Then she will wear a permanent retainer for another year, and then you are supposed to wear a retainer at least at night... for life. So... I am excited and can't wait to see her new smile.

Noah, who started wearing glasses in January, now needs contacts because of his sports playing. He is the goalie for his soccer team and has been hit too many times already. It is very interesting trying to put them in. His eyelashes are as long as Katie's and he is squirrely about me putting them in. Once in,however.. he is great. We have a fabulous eye doctor too... so that is really nice.

I guess the biggest news of the day is that we need new lateral lines in our yard. Does anyone know what lateral lines are??? NO?? I didn't either, until I needed them.

Well... lateral lines are pipes that stretch out from your septic tank. Only the umm... solid waste stays in your tank. The water waste is leeched out through these lateral lines to drain into your yard. (feel free to say ew gross here, I did). Evidently, that is the way it is done. Here is where it gets interesting though. You can't just order these puppies up. My sweet plumber guy... came to diagnose the situation. He did all he could... but evidently there was no cleaning out the existing ones... we need new. I said I would wear a shirt that says "I Heart my plumber" if he would try to move us up the line to get this done quicker. Evidently that isn't possible.
FIRST, we had to have independent contractors come and scope out our yard and dig a BIG hole and test the soil and decide where the lines can go. They can't go in our front yard over the existing lines. They can't go in our back yard because we have a separate septic tank back there for the back end of the house. NO.... our lines must start in the front and then run 85 feet to the back down the hill into the treeline where they will then have three 85 ft lateral runs. (Did I mention you pay for this pipe by the foot??) How about the fact that I will lose an entire section of trees in my back yard including the one the treehouse was begun on. Thank goodness it isn't completely finished. I guess we will move it further down the hill.

So... I know all of this because I payed the contractor man $475 and we haven't even begun yet. Now the county has to come out and approve the system. Then they will approve a permit and send me the plan at which time I call back sweet plumber man and begin the real work.

Did I mention we have 10 people living in the house??? The good news is that sweet plumber guy cleaned things out enough that we can still use our system. I can honestly say that we here in America take indoor plumbing for granted.


I feel this post is long enough so I will close.
Next time... How Brian fixed the Washer.
or maybe...How I found the Wordly Wise Vocabulary lists for free.... over 4000 words for my kids to learn!! Wahoo.

Can you stand the excitement??