Introducing...the adorable Brock

Here are some pictures of Brock, the adorable 2-year-old I babysit full-time. We played with the doctor kit while Allie went to preschool. He especially liked the stethoscope and hearing himself say, "boom-boom, boom-boom" through it.

Shane interviewed by Local TV News Crew

On Friday afternoon, a Channel 3 TV (my favorite, yay!) news crew came to our door and wanted to know our Sump Pump Story. So I told them, and they wanted to interview me on camera. But I said, sorry, I'm too shy, but my husband will be home soon and you can talk to him. I'm sure he won't mind. He's an extrovert and likes to talk. :) Click on the play button and enjoy!

And the Rain Came Down...

These pictures of our basement were taken this evening. The mattresses in the top left of the first photograph are a loss and a few boxes were soggy on the bottom. Read on for details.

The weather here in Southern Wisconsin has drawn national attention as two towns about 100 miles west of Madison were evacuated due to heavy rains that caused flash floods and even a mudslide that pushed a house onto a highway. The governor has declared three counties to be in a state of emergency and has dispatched the National Guard to help. Here in our village of Oregon (7 miles south of Madison), residents a few blocks from us worked alongside volunteers putting up sandbags to keep out the rising water which already has flooded some homes here. You can read about it here: http://www.channel3000.com/news/13927169/detail.html. More rain is expected tonight and tomorrow. Even as I type this, the rain is pounding loudly on the roof!

Earlier tonight Shane was chatting with his friend Greg online (who also happens to live next door) who asked him if his basement was dry. Shane said, "Actually, I don't know. Let me go check." It was a good thing he did because we had seepage coming up through the cracks and some areas had 1/2 inch to an inch of standing water! We brought our shop vac out and tried sucking the water out of the sump pump area but it just kept filling up as fast as it was leaving. After a while, I encouraged Shane to ask Greg to come over since three minds are better than two...and between the two of us, we didn't have any ideas. So...Shane and Greg took out the sump pump, inspected it, determined it to be in working order and discovered a clogged pipe was the cause of our predicament. Everything is fine now. I'm so thankful to God for sump pumps, friends willing and able to help, shop vacs, dehumidifiers, and a hard-working husband. I'm even thankful for an unfinished basement. It could have been so much worse!

Isaac Loses Second Baby Tooth

Isaac ran up to me just before bed and said, "Mom! Guess what? I twisted my tooth and it came out!" It had been barely hanging in there for a week. No amount of well-meaning advice or offers to "help yank it out" would sway him from his determination that the tooth should fall out on its own. My guess is that he was absentmindedly playing with it while Shane read him a bedtime story. I gave Isaac a big hug and said, "That's wonderful! Congratulations!" As he walked to his room to put it under his pillow, I heard him say, "I'm going to see the Tooth Fairy when she comes!!"