A few weeks ago, we headed to Florida for Avery's dance competition. This time, we took the boys with us and made it a whole family event and a mini vacation. We rented a condo and had the best time!
We had so much fun! It's fun spending time with and making memories with my kiddos!
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
...it pours! Alternately titled, "Being a Grown Up."
We've had a string of unfortunate events happen within the last month and a half, and I'm choosing to document them here so I can look back on them one day and remember how far we've come (not only at the time of experiencing the events, but also at remembering whatever happens between these events and what the future holds).
On the first weekend of March, I started the dishwasher and noticed the next morning (when Aaron and Noah went to run it again) that it had not run the night before. When they started it on Sunday morning, it made no sounds. Opening the door revealed no water spraying around-- only collecting at the bottom. This was a disappointment for sure since we bought the dishwasher new in September of 2022 and installed it in our home in January of 2023. After 14 months, it was already breaking! We tried running diagnostic codes but no code appeared. We played around with it and figured the water pump might be malfunctioning. My dad suggested we contact Maytag, so Aaron did . He set up an appointment on March 15th, and the Maytag rep assured us they keep those parts on the truck. We hand-washed dishes til then (I know-- first world problems). On March 15th, the serviceman came by and was able to get the dishwasher to produce an error code and it was not the part that we thought needed replacing. He told me he'd have to order that part and he'd be back on the 26th to install it. More hand-washing. Finally, on March 26th he was able to bring the part and fix the dishwasher! I was so happy that it was able to be fixed since I didn't want to go out and find another dishwasher (especially because I liked this one so much that I purposefully chose it for this house!).
Next on the agenda was our fridge. When we bought our second home in 2016, we had to buy a fridge. I loved the one we chose. Yes, it was gigantic, but I loved it. I loved it so much that we took it with us when we moved out, and we set it up in my parents' garage while we built our house. I'm sure that this time in the garage shaved some years off its life, but we brought it with us when we moved into our new home and it certainly had its moments. Aaron already had to finagle a fix to it this fall, and we hobbled along it with for the next few months. Eventually, the water dispenser allowed only a trickle, the ice maker stopped making ice, the door would dribble water on my foot every time I opened it, and the fridge started freezing foods even though the temperature showed above freezing. We knew we would need to be thinking of a new fridge soon. Since Michael's insulin is kept in the fridge, we couldn't risk having the fridge die on us and ruin any insulin. Aaron found a fridge option and we went ahead and ordered it to be delivered on a day later that week. The day before arrival, Aaron hit a deer on the way to work.
The fridge arrived as planned on its delivery date as we were figuring out our lives as a one-car family (again, I know-- first world problems). The car was towed to the car repair shop the evening that the accident happened. We found out the next day that it could be fixed and we'd only owe our deductible (this was a HUGE blessing because we did not want to go find another car and spend thousands to purchase it). We were surprised to find out that we didn't have car rental coverage as part of our policy, and as soon as the car repair shop found this out, they told us they'd try to rush us through and be finished by the end of the following week). Well, here we are on Monday of the week after that and we still don't have our car. We've made it through this nearly two week period and are figuring out our plans for this week (doctor's appointments, dance practices, extracurricular events, oh yeah-- and work) and how we'll manage again with one car.
Oh, and in this time, two children have been sick at one point or another. We're making it through, but golly it's been a time! Honestly, we are blessed with how these situations are working out and we're so grateful for how God is working out the details and keeping us safe. It's been a trying time emotionally and I'll be glad when we get to go back to our quiet routine!
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
On the second day off, Aaron & I took the kids to Birmingham & Sylacauga.
Our intention was to go to the McWane Science center but the parking deck gate was down & said full. This was within an hour of the museum opening. I knew there were street parking lots around but the ones nearby had lines of cars out onto the street, and the spots were small (of which there were none available anyhow). So we pivoted & went to the under-interstate playground that we had briefly stopped at for the Supercross race. Then we went to the Summit and ate at Shake Shack for lunch. Afterwards we ventured across the street to Trader Joe's (wow! The crowds!). Then we traveled to Sylacauga to the Bluebell factory to get our dollar ice cream cups. We played more card games that night and had another memory filled day.
I loved our little day trips with them!
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
We've been busy trying out new hairstyles on our little fashionista, and I'm loving it! Here's our latest collection.
For her competition dance team, she has to wear her hair in a curly ponytail so one night we tried out sponge rollers!
It's been so much fun to look up hairstyles and try things out with her!
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
