Disaster Averted

{Let me just preface this by saying the everyone is OK.}

Yesterday I had been helping Josh decorate his cake for the Blue & Gold banquet from the time he got home from school until just before 5 p.m.  And knowing we had the banquet at 6:30, I was feeling in a bit of a rush to get dinner on.  But I had to make a quick run to Macey’s to make it happen.

While I was there, my phone range 3 times – kids not getting along.  Seriously, I was gone for a total of 10-15 minutes!!  I told them to just leave each other alone and I’d be there in just a minute.

When I got home, I quickly threw the bags of groceries up on the counter so I could deal with Caleb trying to use the drawer handles as stepping stools to get to the graham crackers.

Feeling slightly stressed – and a little upset at the kids for not getting along – I heaved a big sigh and sat down at the kitchen table to cut a few veggies.  As I was gathering things up, I could smell something like melting plastic.  The dishwasher was going, and sometimes it puts off a tiny hint of that smell, so I assumed it was that.

As I sat at the table, I started to smell the melting plastic smell more strongly, and Emily also noticed and said, “Something’s burning.”  At that moment, I saw smoke collecting above the kitchen counters and I panicked.

I frantically began searching for the source.  Thinking it was something melting in the dishwasher, I opened the door – nothing melting there.  I tried following the source of the smoke.  Microwave???  No.  Nothing in the oven or the toaster oven.

The toaster!!  There it was.  A melting tupperware container, sitting atop the toaster, which when removed, revealed flames shooting out of the toaster.  Man did I panic!

My first thought was to grab the toaster and throw it out in the snow.  I yelled at Emily to open the door, and she was crying and screaming, “Mommy, I’m scared!”  Uh yeah, me too!  I quickly realized, though, that throwing it out into the snow would involve too much risk.

I’m watching the flames get bigger, reaching to the cabinets above, thinking this is going to get out of control before I know what to do.

I knew I had to get it unplugged, so I searched frantically for the right outlet, while trying not to catch myself on fire.  And as stupid as I am, I grabbed the toaster (with my bare hands, which are fine), put it in the sink, and turned on the water.  Disaster averted.

Realistically, this all took place in 30-60 seconds.  It’s amazing what the mind can conjure up in such a short amount of time!

So how did it happen?  Well, I have 2 theories.  Either Caleb climbed up and pushed down the toaster lever, or when I set my groceries down, they landed right on the lever and pushed it down.  The latter seems more likely, as I know Caleb hadn’t been on the counter while I was home, and I’m pretty sure the entire house would have been on fire before I got home had he done it while I was at the store.

I was going to take pictures of the casualties – the toaster (which we just got last fall or summer!), and the tupperware container with a big hole melted through the bottom and the bag of bread melted to the top – but we had to get them out of the house to get the stink out.  So they’re sitting in the garbage can.  But I’m sure you can imagine what they look like!

Someone is definitely looking out for us!  How thankful I am for that!  As I thought about the whole incident again this morning, I was literally sick thinking about how things would have ended if it would have happened while I was at the store.  I don’t even want to go there.

Once again, we’re all fine.  I’m sad to lose my toaster, and my favorite tupperware container.  And while I was having myself a little post-traumatic-stress-disorder cry, it was Emily who pointed out, “At least no one got hurt!”   I love that girl!

I’m a Complainer

I sounded a bit whiney in my post about the beginning of tax season.  I don’t feel bad at all that you all just rolled your eyes!

Really, it’s not so bad.  Tax season only lasts somewhere between 10-12 weeks.  And it’s not 24 hours a day.  I’m so incredibly lucky that I’ve never had to send my sweet husband off on a military deployment.  I can’t imagine saying good-bye for that long.  In fact, I am lucky enough that Jared only travels once a year for a few days (and I whine about that too).  And, while I sometimes feel like a single parent, I know I am far from it.  It makes me want to cry to even think about being the only parent – not having that physical presence there to relieve me when I’ve had it (which is more often than I’d care to admit), or that shoulder to cry on when I feel like a complete failure.

I know I am lucky to get my sweet hubby home for dinner most nights.  And waiting until 6:30 (which doesn’t happen often) is really not a big deal.  Did I really complain about that??

What I feel most blessed about, though, is that Jared CHOOSES to go to work very early in the morning so that he can be home and spend some time with all of us in the evenings.  He makes a conscious choice to put our family first.

Oh, and did I even mention how thankful I am that he has a job?!?  Of course not – I’m a complainer.

Really, I am truly blessed.  More than I deserve.

Happy V-day!

All you need is love, right?!!  I’m in good shape, then, because I LOVE these cuties!

And I LOVE when they won’t cooperate for pictures…

…because then I can start talking about farts and how they smell, and all that stuff that kids like, and I get pictures like this!

{Better, but I think my technique needs some work!  At least they’re all looking at me and “smiling”}

Em was so excited to dress up for Valentine’s Tea at school.  Josh was not so thrilled.  But they both had a good time and came home with lots of Valentines (which means CANDY) from school.

We had our own little party for FHE.  We had a yummy dinner of parmesan chicken, roasted RED potatoes, asparagus, pomegranate Sprite, and these babies…

…pink rolls!!  I have to admit, they reminded me so much of playdough when I was mixing them up that I was a little surprised when they actually tasted like yummy home-made rolls!!  And as I got looking at them, I decided that they remind me of pig snouts!  Very delicious pig snouts!

After we had our little FHE lesson, we played Valentine’s Yahtzee and Valentine’s Bingo.

Oh, and one of the best parts of the day came first thing in the morning, when we had another ultrasound and got to see cutie #5 again!  He wasn’t in the mood to cooperate though (what is it with our kids?!?!) so we didn’t really get to see his face…boo!  But it was good to see that he is still growing and everything looks as expected.

Happy love day everyone!

Time to Lighten Up

I took a long, hard look at myself this week, and I decided it was time for me to lighten up. 

No, no, no – I’m not speaking about abdominal girth.  That will have to wait.  {Which means I can keep eating ice cream and chocolate and cinnamon rolls and feel sort of OK about it, at least for a little while longer!}

I really do need to lighten up and live a little.  Sometimes I make life too serious.  Sometimes??  Really??  Nah, not me!  But that’s not where the lightening up was needed.

It’s my hair!  And I’m not talking color.  {That’s the one thing I actually love about my hair, and it’s completely natural, even the gray.}  I’m talking about length.

Yup – couldn’t stand it anymore.  Got myself an appointment today, found a couple pictures I liked, and completely whacked it off!  Not exactly sure how many inches, but I’m thinking somewhere in the vicinity of 9-10!!

While I *think* I like the cut, my hair is in hair shock, so I don’t think it looks completely like it will.  I think after a couple of days it will look better.

And now I’ve got your attention, because you’re thinking I look absolutely freakish right now, and you think you’re going to get to see a picture.

Aw shucks!  I just don’t do hair shock photos!  You’ll have to wait a couple days until it settles down.