Thank you, Advanced Plumbing

Yes, I am really thanking Advanced Plumbing.  Because of the lesson I learned with them back in 2009 (and thanks to my smart mom) I was saved from being taken in for $3000 by Right Now Heating and Air: the Advanced Plumbing of the furnace world.

It was the week before Christmas.  They were offering a $39 season tune-up.  Since we moved here two years ago and haven't ever serviced the furnace, I thought I'd give it a go, especially at that price.  Well, he called me out to look at the camera snake with him.  He points it at something and says, "What does that look like to you?"  I say, "A crack."  He says, "That's what it looks like to me too."  I felt a little weird about that exchange, because why didn't he just say "I've found a crack"?  It made me feel like he was covering his behind so if there was a question later he could say "SHE said it was a crack, not me."  But it DID look like a crack, so I trusted him.  He asked me if I'd heard about the Marine who died of carbon monoxide poisoning last year--I had.  He said that ever since then regulation in the area had been really strict and they had bought a camera for each of the trucks.  He then said that whenever they find a crack they have to have someone from the American Gas Association come out and verify it.  Great.  He made me sign a paper that basically says that our technician advised us to turn off the furnace and stop using it and that if we die it isn't their fault.  Well, I didn't want my family to die, so I set up the appointment for after Christmas, figuring I'd deal with whatever he found.  I mean, if this impartial inspector says I have a problem--hey, I've gotta fix it. 

So yesterday a guy came out, only he's not from the AGA, he's from Right Now again.  And he checks a few things and then launches into a sales presentation.  And I start to feel like I've done this all before.  Because I have.  Advanced Plumbing tried to do the same thing to us to the tune of $14,000 and a new sewer line that we really didn't need.  So I listened to what he has to say and he said he could repair our heat exchange and two other parts that "are operating slightly out of recommended guidelines, so that means they will eventually fail" for just over $1000, or we could get a whole new furnace for $3500.  He recommends we get the new furnace because ours is 10 years old "and they are only made to last 10-15 years, so you'll just keep dumping money into it and then have to replace it anyway."
Keep in mind that our furnace was functioning fine and that the parts he said "will eventually fail" are just drawing half-an-amp more power than operating guidelines suggest.  So they aren't even failing, just being less efficient.  Really, my only concern here was that if there really is a crack in the heat exchange and it's going to kill us with carbon monoxide, I want to fix it.  And his presentation seemed sound and the prices were not too bad, so I was really leaning toward replacing the whole unit with this guy.  It made me a little ill because we are trying to save up for a van this summer since all three kids are crammed in the back seat and it is driving us nuts.  Plus, we are still paying off major hospital bills.  But if it's about our safety, I'll do it.  I was going to do it.

BUT

Thanks to Advanced Plumbing, I just can't quite trust what the first person tells me.  Before I spend that much money I want a second opinion.  The salesman was not happy about that.  He is so smooth, he tries everything to get us to sign right then and there.  He even knocks down the price to $2900 and throws in a "$600 solar attic fan" for free.  (I happen to know that solar attic fans cost less than $200.)  But of course his offer is only good until the end of the day, for some nebulous reason that doesn't make any sense, about him knowing right where the furnace is in the warehouse and how later he wouldn't know so he couldn't give a discount???  Firmly and politely we tell him that we need time to think it over and want a second opinion.  He tries several more things and finally asks that we "make it fair" by not mentioning to the next guy that anyone was there.  That makes sense to me.  I know that sometime people will trash-talk their competitors so I agree.

We get someone to come out that very day so we can still get the deal if we decide to.  Even though my tale right now has the bitterness of hindsight, at the time I was still convinced we were getting a new furnace and was only double checking because I knew it was a good idea.  I fully expected to have Right Now's findings corroborated and have a new furnace the next day.  We told the guy that we just wanted a tune up.  He took everything apart and cleaned it and said it looked great.  "What about the heat exchange? Weren't there cracks in it?"  He was surprised.  He didn't have a camera, but he had looked at it and also run the visual and auditory tests of the flame that would signal a crack.  So of course I had to explain that someone had come before and found cracks and that we wanted a second opinion.  He asked which company it was and I said "I'd rather not say."  So he opened it up again and went completely over it.  And he showed me the flame tests and that it was not behaving like it had a crack.  He said sometimes other companies will show you a seam and tell you it was a crack.

Now I was going crazy.  Had it been a crack?  Why didn't I ask if the new guy had a camera before he came out?  Was I going to have to get a third opinion?  How I wish I could just bring the first guy back and let the two technicians argue about what they saw, haha!  Wouldn't that be awesome?  Finally, the new guy finished up.  He said the other parts that the first guy had said were going to fail were fine, just dirty.  He cleaned them and said they would work fine.  Then he said that he wouldn't charge me (which was so nice, considering all the work he did!)  He advised me to put the money toward having a new guy come with a camera, since it was worrying me so much.

Instead, I did some more reading online and found that even if my heat exchange IS cracked, the way the furnace blows makes sure that all of the carbon monoxide would go out through the roof.  It can't blow backward into the house.

So I decided to use the money for more carbon monoxide detectors (we already have one) and to just forget it.  I was so stressed about calling the Right Now guy back so Nathan did it.

Now I feel like I have $3000 extra, haha!  When our tax return comes I will be able to use it for our van!

Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve the kids got to open one present before bed.  Just as I was, as a child, the kids were really excited about this bonus present. "C'mon, Mom!  Stop taking pictures and let us open them!"

Pajamas!  (Heh heh, big surprise.)  I got a great deal on Annalee's and Vander's came out of the cousin hand-me-down box.  Thanks, Sarah!

Christmas morning we got up early, opened stockings, and then drove to Rigby.  The cousins had already opened stockings and were dying to go in the family room.

What a treasure trove awaited!  Santa's gifts were placed carefully around the 9 ft tree, which looked awesome in the room with the 10 ft ceiling.

Annalee had asked Santa for "a doll that looks like me."  Santa looked really hard.  The best one he could find in his price range didn't have bangs or brown eyes, but I think it really looks like her, especially the cheeks and mouth.  She was thrilled to find out that Santa had gotten her doll a nightdress to match the one she'd gotten the night before!

Santa wasn't sure what to bring Vander, but you can't go wrong with a rocket ship, right?

I'm pretty sure we didn't get anything for Bellana!  But she got to wear the cutest Christmas jumper on the planet.  (When we're done having kids I will cry because no one else will get to wear this jumper.)  She also got some sweet gifts from Grandma and Papa, including a singing angel teddy bear.

Calvin got a whollotta books he'd been wanting, Paisley got a Tangled tower with action figures, and Ronald got a little slide.  There are SO many pictures that I wasn't going to post many of Sarah's kids, but I just had to post this one of Ginny in the Santa outfit she asked for.  No company makes Santa outfits for near-3-year-old girls, so I hear Mrs. Claus had to make it out of  a Christmas dress.  Ginny was in heaven.

The gift opening started off pretty organized

but soon became a free-for-all.

The present I was most proud of was a used shirt I got for Nathan. He has a long-sleeved shirt that he loves and many times he has asked me to get another.  Since I'd gotten it at a thrift store I had no idea how to get another.  But a long internet search and eBay later, I found one.

Big kid table!

That night we dressed up the kids for Christmas dinner.  Sarah had suggested putting the girls in dark blue dresses, since Ginny and Paisley had them and she was about to pass one down to Annalee.  I found one for Bellana at used baby clothing store.

The End!

Family's Got Talent

Part of our Christmas fun in Rigby this year was a Talent Show!  I was very excited and everyone else tried not to throw me out in the snow.  But despite the initial lukewarm response, most everyone got into it by the end.

Here, the audience is anxiously awaiting the show!

Paisley went first, I think.  (It's been a while so the details are starting to fuzz.)  She beautifully sang two songs she's learned in school.  The outfit was a must.

Calvin showed off the skills he's been learning in piano lessons with two songs, including Funiculi Funicula, that fun Neopolitan song.  He planned a sneaky ending to his song where he would bow and then fall down and trick everyone.  It worked a little too well!  His dad thought he'd really fallen and gotten hurt so he stopped recording to go help him.  Calvin really got us!

Ginny sang "I am a Child of God."  She is such a cutie.

Vander sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  I was really proud of him, doing it in front of everyone.  I wasn't sure if he would.

I had planned to have Bellana show off her newest talent of rolling over (that she had just mastered) but she was asleep during the talent show.

Nathan doesn't like to be the center of attention and didn't want to participate, but he finally agreed to juggle.  He's actually pretty good at doing three objects and often uses it to entertain little kids.  The kids were very entertained, especially when he purposely missed catching one and let it hit him on the head!  Check out his glazed look from getting beaned, in the second picture.

Annalee planned her talent way in advance.  She brought her costume from last summer's dance recital and did the warm up they do in class each day, a great tutorial on all the ballet positions.

I had the hardest time figuring out what to do.  Since I had planned the whole thing, I wanted my talent to be really funny or impressive.  But we got to the day of the talent show and I still hadn't decided.  Steven was trying to get out of doing anything at all, so I finally convinced him to do The Duck Song with me. It's a funny song about a duck that keeps bugging a guy at a lemonade stand.  Steven was the annoyed guy at the lemonade stand.

And I was the duck.  We practiced a few times with the computer and then he downloaded the song to his phone so we could play it in the living room.  Unfortunately, we never practiced with the song on his phone and when it started playing we discovered that it was a remixed version that was heavy on the bass and really weird.  I was blushing for a lot of it because I was so embarrassed but it was hilarious, I'm sure!

Sarah and Bob ended the show with some serious singing talent, doing a piece that had prepared for something else.  Church, maybe?

We had a great time and I will be forcing this pleasant torture on family gatherings for many years to come!

Waiting for Christmas

We drove to East Idaho the Saturday before Christmas.  At a rest stop on the way I saw this sign someone had written in the snow: 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.  That's how we knew we were on the right track.

We stayed at Steven's house in Idaho Falls--the whole family doesn't fit at my parents' house anymore!  It was so fun staying with Steven.  We played several late-night games of computer Risk.  Steven paid for all of us to go see Frozen, which had just come out.  It had been a long time since we'd been to a movie theater!  Then, he let Nathan and I leave the kids at his house while we went out to see Star Trek: Into Darkness, just us.  Priceless!

One of the nights (Monday?) we went to Texas Roadhouse with Steven and ended up having to jump our car battery because the kids had left some interior lights on.  Can someone please explain to me WHY in the world they would put personal fold-down, lighted mirrors in the back seat of a sedan?  It's not like adults ride in the back of cars these days.  They were just begging to be played with by little hands on a long trip!

I think those two pictures were the only ones I took the whole trip.  Luckily, Dad was very busy with his camera and sent me about a hundred pictures of all the fun we had.

Boys against girls!  Psst, Sarah, can I call Clubs?  We love our Pinochle!

Sarah was a hero and organized cookie decorating one day.  She used leftover gingerbread men she had from making one of her impressive gingerbread mansions for a contest in Logan.

The redheads! 

Ginny really like playing with Bellana.  I loved these adorable pictures of her!  Look at that smile!

It was so fun having the whole family together.  We hadn't been together for Christmas in a few years.

Please note Bob, in his native habitat.  Wait--where's the coke?

Mom had recently gone Towanda! and punched a hole in the wall between the kitchen and the family room.  It wasn't quite finished with the trim yet, but it was so nice and open for people preparing food in the kitchen to stay involved in what was happening with everyone else.

Dad's yummy taco soup for Sunday dinner.

Bellana loves to be held!

All four of the little girls had red beaded socks for Christmas, that I crocheted.  They wore them to church that Sunday.

I love how Steven is such a good uncle, so patient and sweet with kids.  Take note, ladies!

Oopsie

Oops!  I got so busy talking about the pictures of Vander I wanted to post that I forgot to share a few cute stories about him!  Back in August Vander had his 30 month well-child checkup.  (They do them in Idaho.)  As we always do before an appointment, we played doctor at home so he would know what to expect.  The kids have a doctor's kit that they play with a lot anyway, so when someone comes at him with a stethoscope he knows what's going on.  The doctor was amazed.  AMAZED!  He looked in his mouth, listened to his chest, looked in his eyes and ears, and did all the things that doctors do.  Vander sat patiently and let him do it all.  The doctor kept saying, "I can't believe this!  HOW old is he?  I think this is a record!"  When we told him our secret he said he wished all parents did that!


One night I got two compliments on my cooking. My kids were debating whether the food was good or not and Nathan said, "Mommy always makes good food."  I snorted, knowing that sometimes my husband doesn't like something and the leftovers have to be thrown out.  He said, "No really!  You always make good dinners. There are just different levels of good." I got a long laugh about THAT one!

Then later at the same meal my 2 year old said, "Thank you, Mommy," out of the blue, with no prompting from anyone else and no one else saying thank you first. My face lit up and I said, "You're welcome, Vander!" Then he screwed up his face in concentration and said, "You a big maker." I LOVE that compliment! It was all his own, not just a repetition of something he heard. He was trying to tell me what he thought of me making dinner! (I think Nathan needs to take lessons from his son!)


One day Vander and Bellana and I were on our way to Jimmy Johns sub shop for a promotion they were having.  (Annalee was at school and Daddy was at work.)  Vander kept up a constant stream of questions from the back about where we were going and what we were doing.  I told him we were going to get sandwiches.

"What kind of sandwich?"
"ANY kind you want, Vander," I said, exasperated, sure that they would have something he would like.
"Ummmm....I want....ice cream sandwich!" he said, totally serious.

 

 



i two

 Vander has been able to express his creative side more often, recently.  Sometimes he gets the camera when I'm not looking, like this moment when I thought both of the younger kids were asleep, so I tried to take a nap too.  What does he take pictures of?  Mostly the floor, the ceiling, and himself.  But here was a cute one I found of a napping Bellana.  You can still see the pirate eye patch that I hadn't washed off from the day before.  I'm glad she slept through her photo session!  I only found out about it when I was taking pictures off the camera.

 Vander is my little mess-maker, my sweet toddler.  But if I try to call him Buddy or "my little cuddler" he indignantly informs me "No, I Vander!"  And if you ask him how old he is, he'll tell you "I two" or "I two and a half," depending on whether Annalee was also answering the age question, which she always answers with "Five AND A HALF!"

Here he is, trying to put galoshes on over sandals.  Then he asked for help.

A few months ago he was showing a lot of interest in using the potty so I bought him some underwear.  It didn't go very far, though, because he only knows when he needs to do #2, not #1.  It is attractive to me to have him out of diapers so I don't have double duty, but I just don't have the energy right now to potty train him.  I want to wait until he is really, REALLY ready and practically potty trains himself.  So much less stress.

Oh, how we tried to get Bellana to take a bottle and a pacifier!  Maybe I'll get it right if we have a baby #4?

Trying on Daddy's shoes.

"Heh heh!  Aunt Tara won't notice if I borrow her boots!"

Hmmm, I just realized that she still probably doesn't know about this because I think she was asleep.  Gotta send this to her.

A quiet, rare moment when all of my kids are playing together nicely! Annalee is sharing her camera, which has games on it.

Oh Vander, you are so helpful!  I was feeding Bellana and Vander was supposed to be playing on the computer and waiting for breakfast.  Instead, he somehow managed to get my "yucky" cereal out, pour a bowl, and top it with eggs! I found the carton of eggs in the garbage since he had dropped it and broken a few.  Some were still unbroken, so I rescued them.  I don't have a clue how he lifted a full gallon of milk out of the fridge and onto the table.  I'm just glad he couldn't get it open!  The blueberries were from the freezer.  Nothing is out of reach anymore!

Another time when I was changing the baby's diaper I came down to find all of the dog food in the bathroom sink.  He had even washed it with soap and water.  It was soooo hard to stay in the room long enough to clean it up because it smelled just like dog barf.  I always thought it was the barf part that smelled so bad, but I guess it's just wet dog food.

Got my camera again!  I love you, my helpful sweet boy!

Pumpkins

 I've managed to get away with not carving pumpkins the last few years, but last year Annalee was adamant that NEXT year we would carve them.  And boy, was her memory good!  She kept reminding me until I finally took the kids to Walmart to pick some out.  I had waited so long that they were only $2 each--score!  The kids wanted pumpkins small enough that they could lift them themselves.  I got big, warty pumpkins for Nathan and I.  Did you know that warty pumpkins are harder-shelled than regular ones?  I bent 3 knives trying to carve the bottom out!  I didn't get much further than what this picture shows.

Not that I minded.  After helping Vander and Annalee, I was pretty sick of pumpkins.  Because the pumpkins were a little too hard for the kids to carve, I asked them how they wanted things to look and then I carved it.  Annalee's and Vander's started out with teeth, but later they got a hold of the carving knives and started making more alterations.  Then they got the marker and played around even more.  At least they had fun!  I carved the bottom out of Bellana's and cleaned it out but then I was too tired to carve a face.  I don't think she noticed.  (Bellana's isn't in the picture because it was hiding behind the column.)

Bellana 6 months

Five Months

 

Six Months

 



 And some out-takes:

At six months Bellana can finally roll over if placed on her tummy.  She only stays there a second and then -zoop!- onto her back.  She refuses to take a bottle and mostly likes to be around people she knows.  (Which stinks for our dating life!)  She is giggly and smiley with other people, though, if Mommy and Daddy are around. 

(Vander wanted to be in the picture with his grabber toy.)

 She grabs her toes and eats them.  She pulls off her socks.  She makes "dragon baby" sounds, like all of our kids did.   She is obsessed with the dog and really wants to eat his fur.  Thankfully, Tavi is very patient with babies!

She loves to bounce in her doorway bouncer.  Her thighs recently got too fat for the Bumbo seat but thanks to sitting in it for the last 4 months she is very close to sitting unassisted.  She can sit up for a few seconds before she tries to grab something and falls over.

Her nails grow faster than any kid's I've ever seen!  She often scratches herself, even if I've recently trimmed them as much as I can.

Everything goes in her mouth right now.  She is very excited to learn what everything around her tastes like!

"Do I know you?"

Sisters forever!

Look at those blue, blue eyes!  Look at that wonderful big sis!

Bellana is such a joy to our family.  I love how sweet Annalee and Vander are with her.  When I feed the baby in the recliner in the girls' room, Annalee always begs to play with Bellana.  "No, she's eating!"

Vander loves to make "Bagwana" laugh.