Birthday Week

Last week was a busy birthday week for us. Parker turned 3 and Matt celebated getting another year closer to 40.

For Parker's birthday we spent the afternoon at the pool, where the kids enjoyed splashing around. Later we had cake and ice cream with grandpa and Aunt Rachel.

Saturday I surprised Matt by taking him to Hocking Hills State Park, where we enjoyed a three hour long zipline tour. It was a beautiful day to be 75 feet up in the trees. Now I need to get to work on the zipline that I want to put in our backyard.

Freak Hail Storm

Tuesday night we had a hail storm role through the area. It only lasted about five minutes but it managed to topple one of our pine trees onto our roof. Luckily it landed on our chimney and the only casualty appears to be the chimney cap. The tree broke off about ten feet up and has been sitting precariously on our roof for the last two days because the rain has continued. So today when Matt got home from work I told him that we needed to get it down (it was making me nervous with the kids running under it). I actually called a tree company today but they were unable to come take a look at it and I didn't want to wait another day for someone else.

So I ran to Lowes to get some plywood to cover the window that was below the tree. We climbed on the roof and started cutting branches away. We quickly became the evening entertainment as several of our neighbors came out to see what we were up to (I am kind of know for doing crazy things around the house). We got the top of the tree cut off and tied a rope to the remaining tree. We hooked the rope up to Matt's car. He quickly pulled the tree off of the chimney and away from the house. I have to say that it went very smooth. We managed to get it down without causing any additional damage. We just have a little more cleanup to do tomorrow.

Anyone want some firewood?

Maris Turns One

It is hard to believe that a whole year has passed with Maris in our family. It is wonderful to see her personality start to develop.

This past weekend we were able to celebrate her first birthday with friends and family. She did a great job destroying her ladybug cake. I was glad that we moved her outside for the event because cake was flying everywhere. She ate a little of the frosting, but mostly she just decided to wear it.

She is almost walking, taking four or five steps at a time.

Pre Cake eating

The after picture.

Parker helping with decorating process before the party.

Sad Day

My childhood home is no more.

Yesterday morning my dad and Carol heard noises coming from an upstairs bedroom. Upon investigating they discovered that there were flames coming from the wall near the chimney. They called the fire department and tried a fire extinguisher. The volunteer fire department arrived and was able to get the fire out after it had severely damaged two upstairs bedrooms and did considerable smoke and water damage to the rooms below. Everyone got out safely, thankfully.

Fortunately my dad has a trailer on the same property that he rents out which is currently vacant, so they have somewhere to stay while they cleanup.

Unfortunately the story doesn't end there. This morning they awoke to find that there was another fire (there must have been something smoldering in the wall) and by the time they got to it there was nothing to be done.

This house has a lot of history and memories and it is sad to think that it will no longer be there when I go to visit. The home was built in the 1920's on the farm that my grandfather purchased in the 1950's.

I am just grateful that everyone is safe.

http://www.kxly.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=3610386&h1=Fire%20strikes%20Sagle%20couple%27s%20home%20twice&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=148767&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&rnd=6233654

http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2009/03/31/news/doc49d1c181a500c991523108.txt

The house two years ago

Goldie and Con

Yesterday was a big day for the Vernon family. There are now two more hearts beating under the roof of our home. Several months ago I made a deal with Nicole, Nolan and Parker. The deal was that when Nolan and Parker were potty trained that we would get a pet. We discussed what kind of pet they would want and I was very relieved when they settled on a fish. I know, big commitment, but I am not ready to deal with litter boxes, pet hair, or poop in the back yard, I mean the whole point to this deal was for me to not have to change dirty diapers. Well I am happy to say that Nolan is now pretty independent when it comes to going to the bathroom and I have to say this was no small task. Parker is not quite there but we decided to let Nolan and Nicole pick out there fish right now. Parker will be rewarded accordingly when he makes the transition. The fish have been named Goldie and Con (as in convict, it is orange and white striped).

Nicole quietly watches the fish. She has been in this position ever since the fish came home.

Puzzle

Matt and I enjoy doing puzzles during the winter. Normally we do easy 1000 piece puzzles that we can finish in a day but for Christmas I got Matt a 2000 piece picture of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (we visited the castle four years ago). Let me just say that this puzzle kicked our butts!! If you have been wondering why I haven't posted anything for the last several weeks, it is because we have been working on this puzzle. It took us two weeks to finish. I don't think that we will be doing any 2000 piece puzzles anytime soon.

Beautiful Snow

Ohio doesn't get a ton of snow by my standards, but the winter storm that rolled through yesterday and today sure made everything beautiful. I think that we ended up with about 9 inches, unfortunately some of that was in the form of freezing rain which is weighing heavy on some of our trees in the front yard, I am hopeful that they will stand up again when the ice melts.

The kids have had the last two days off school and even Matt's office has been closed, so we have just been hanging out enjoying the snow.

Today several of the neighbors came over and went sledding on the hill in our backyard.

Hopefully the snow will not melt to quickly.