No Power... Something's Fishy

A few weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night completely drenched in sweat. At first I couldn't figure out what was going on, but then I suddenly realized that the oscillating fan in our bedroom was not on. (As is typical here, we don't have A/C). I got up to turn it back on, thinking that Krista had for some crazy reason turned it off. To my surprise it was already switched on, it just wasn't working. So, I went out into hallway to turn the hall light on. I flipped the switch and nothing happened. I looked around the house, but it was pitch black and couldn't find a flash light or a candle.

I decided to wake Krista up and, of course, she knew exactly where to find a light source. We light a candle and then opened the breaker box to see which breaker had been tripped. It turned out to be the master breaker for the whole house. I flipped it back on and the lights came on for a second then immediately went off again as the breaker tripped once more. I tried this a couple times getting the same result, then decided to take a look around the house.

My Office is in the basement, so I went down there to check things out while Krista looked around upstairs. As I entered my office I immediately headed across the room to my desk where my computer and all the other important electronic devices are plugged in. As I paused there to look around, I heard a curious, drip... drip... drip... coming from the direction of my aquarium on the other side of the room. That is obviously never a good sign.

I went and got Krista and told her that I thought I had found the problem. We unplugged everything connected to the aquarium and then flipped the breaker again. This time it didn't trip.

When we got down to my office and flipped the light switch on we immediately saw that the aquarium was only about seventy-five percent full. As I examined it, I determined that the bottom pane must have gotten cracked because the sides looked ok. The breaker had tripped because water was dripping off the aquarium stand into the power strip.

We put the fish in a bucket, then spent the next thirty minutes trying to clean up the mess so we could get the aquarium outside. My office is the only room in our house that is carpeted so we had to pull up the corner to let the carpet dry out. This was definitely not something that we wanted to be doing at 3:30 in the morning.

I assume that water had gotten underneath the tank the last time I cleaned it out (which I had to do very hastily, because Nathan had taken the liberty of feeding my fish ALL of the food and we had plans that didn't allow me to take my time, but that is another story). The water had apparently seeped into the screw holes and caused the top of the stand (which is made from pressboard) to swell. The swelling put pressure on the aquarium around the screw holes and the weight of the water split the bottom pane.

Thankfully, we didn't lose any fish in the whole ordeal and were able to replace the aquarium for a fairly reasonable price. All in all it is an experience that I could have done without, though. But, it makes a good story and maybe one day we will be able to laugh about it. Not today though. ;-)

Danny

Eggenberg Castle

I came across this draft that I never posted. The mother/child group that I'm a part of met at Schloss Eggenberg (Eggenberg Castle). It has peacocks that roam free and are really beautiful. We didn't go thru the castle with all the kids, but the grounds are a great place for energy filled kids to play. There is a playground and a nice little cafe. The boys had lots of fun and I enjoy meeting with these other moms and watching our kids grow up together. I miss our families and my friends in the States, but God has been gracious to give me friends here that are so encouraging and so precious to me.

-Krista-

Rooms

Last week when we moved Micah to a big boy bed we also made his old room the playroom. Now their bedroom is just for sleeping, clothing, and movies. The rooms/walls are bare so we'll work on that slowly. Nate picked out some posters at the store to put on the walls in the playroom that we need to go purchase sometime. But all in all it seems to be working out really good. They are working on not waking each other up in the morning. They both think that if they are awake the other brother needs to be up too. It's not so bad in the school year because if I'm already up than I don't mind if Micah gets up too.

Playroom (it's a really small room that barely held the crib and a dresser, but it's perfect for playing)



Bedrooms (Micah's right side and Nate's left)

MIA 2

So here's another reason why we've been missing from the blog world again. Go figure... as soon as I was getting back in the swing of things.....

A storm came thru last week and during the night either a power surge or lightening got our house. We noticed it in the night when our fan was off, but just thought the breaker needed flipping back on (who thinks clearly that early anyway!!). But once we got our day started we noticed our internet wasn't working. Danny went to his office and noticed the routers were dead and started looking around the house to see what else might've been affected. So the storm got our routers, washing machine,and t.v. We are so thankful that our computers and kitchen appliances were not affected though. Since this happened in the night on a Thursday we couldn't do anything till Saturday because Friday was a national holiday. The washing machine was purchased on Saturday out of necessity! I had done 2 loads that night and was in desperate need of doing more. There are 3 active males in this home :) The routers were replaced for free as far as we can tell. The rest will be as we can do it.

Big News: The boys are now sharing a bedroom. Micah is in a 'big boy' bed! He's doing GREAT! But he's always been the son who enjoys his sleep time (another sign that he's more Danny's child... the first was his looks--baby pictures tell no lies). Nate, however, is very much a little "me" (looks, temperament, and night owl) we are still working on getting him to STAY in bed for the night. haha! Micah's old room is now the playroom, which is the only room next to the kitchen so I can see/hear them better. It is a really small room. It had just enough room for a crib, dresser, small closet. But with all that out and just the toy tubs in a shelf thing-a-ma-jig there's lots of floor room for their Lego's and cars. I've also lightened up a bit with my constant phrase, "Clean up your room before bed!" I still have them do some picking up, but not to the extent that at their age it takes an hour before bed and everyone goes to bed upset because they didn't get to play. haha.

I've been sick most of this week, but am feel much better. I was told a summer 'cold' was being passed around and I think I may have caught it. I told Danny I hadn't felt that sick in ages. When I put Nate to bed tonight he had a slight fever...I'm praying he doesn't get it too.

We have a busy weekend and upcoming week. So we're doing good and lovin' life!

-Krista-

PS--Here are pics from the day we went out to the city for our 9th wedding anniversary. We stopped at a little playground for the boys.

MIA

Also, I know we've been MIA for a couple of weeks. Danny wanted to post and so I didn't look at the blog then he forgot and before you know it we were invited to be a part of another families vacation this past weekend. We only stayed 2 nights, but much needed family time as well. It was our boys first time to see the ocean! What an opportunity to get to know this family more and share our faith with them too.

School starts in about 3 weeks and we're gearing up for it. We pass by Nathan's school nearly every time we drive somewhere. So he's pointed it out and is ready! Danny & I are looking into taking some refresher courses for our German. Primarily for more contacts. I can't tell you how many friends we've made just from going to language school. It constantly amazes me how God moves and works thru and with people.

Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of things. I'm starting a Bible study on Monday with a sweet lady. She's also going thru a rough patch in life, marriage, family, etc. Please, please pray for me. I pray God speaks thru me. Danny & I will be offering counseling and though we've done pre-marital counseling for others, this will be a new journey. The Bible is where it needs to start. They need Christ.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the last few weeks!

-Krista-

I see the moon...

... and the moon sees me!

Ok, the reason I'm writing about this: Tonight while driving home from being at a friends house Nate and I had a funny conversation. It started when he couldn't find the moon so as we drove he kept a look out for it.

Mom: "Oh, look Nate! I found the moon. Straight ahead."
Nate: "Mom, that's not the moon. That's the earth" (by the way... it WAS the moon!)
Mom: "I'm sure that's the moon because we live on earth."
Nate: "Oh, then that must be the other earth"
Mom: "I don't think so sweet Nate.... God made the earth and we live on it."
Nate: "Hmmm.... then who lives on the moon?"

Ok... you get the point. It was hilarious and so innocent. I truly love having talks with Nathan. He's 4 yrs. old and full of questions.


-Krista-