Grrr (and brrr)

So we woke up to a crash this morning around five. The fan in the furnace flew off of the motor. It's been a bit rattly, but the whole house is rattly, so we figured it was just one more old thing. It's a good thing it's supposed to be in the fifties today, instead of snowing, like yesterday. The repairman has gone off to see if he can find the parts to replace it. If not--well, good thing we're in Arkansas and not Michigan. Unfortunately, it means we're stuck here the whole day. Also, the house--which has odd smells to begin with--smells really odd without fresh air circulating through it (and no, we're not opening the windows to air it out.) Our next step is to try to stop the leaks in the er, odd shower stall.

Someday I'm living in a house where everything works. I know. Things break, even in a new house. But it would be nice to start with everything working and with no leaks.

Heater fixed

Whew, they got it fixed today. It was getting pretty cold in here! I thought we'd have to start dressing our kids German again (undershirts, tights, AND pants and a shirt and sweater--and no, it's not cold inside a German house), but luckily the repairman was able to find a part and replace everything. I spent the whole day hanging out here to facilitate it. Good things: lots of holding the Lap Child, as well as playing with lulu.com's make your own calendar function. (You can do photo books with them, too.) I don't like self-publishing at all, except in some very limited circumstances (such as a limited-edition family history book or something), but if you have lots of nice photos and want to make a calendar for just your wall, it looks like it might work well.

Of course, now that everything has been put back together and I've dealt with Lap Boy's dinner and attention, and the homework, it's nearly 7 pm and we still haven't eaten dinner. Sigh. (Yes, it's cooking.)

Lap Boy's favorite book

Okay, so really, the favorite book is whatever I'm reading, especially if I'm holding him and talking to him. But the rest of the kids keep bringing me this book we found at the library this last time called Baby Brains and Robomom, by Simon James. If you have kids who think they are Jimmy Neutron, this is the picture book for them!