Mr. Fix It

Some of you may not know, but Thomas is a pretty handy guy! It makes me more than nervous and anxious that he has taken our washing machine apart (see below) and is fixing it by himself. I grew up with a father who could not fix a thing....he could make the most AMAZING Gourmet meal, but no hammers or nails for my dad. SO, you 'd think after almost 10 years with Thomas I'd be at ease with him say, "I'll do it myself." Truthfully, I get sick to my stomach, but when he proves me wrong (which he does a lot), I am so stinking Proud of him!!!!

This is what the machine looks like as I type. THANK GOD I got all the kids and my wash done last weekend...yes, I "broke" it by putting our quilt in it, but look below...it was already on it's way to broken-ville! That is a part (not sure what) that Thomas said was busted off and on the floor.
I will let you know how long it takes to put it back together and if it is "officially" fixed...to be continued.....

Update

I am not sure where or what we have been doing but we have been extremely busy here in the Patnode House. I haven't even been taking pictures. SO, here are a few from today and a little update on the kids:

Book time before Bath time (my favorite part of the day)!

Caroline In her favorite place...the wagon. She use to want to be pushed all the time, now all she wants to do is walk and push it.
Sweet, Sweet Caroline

Caroline is a love bug. She is very attached to her mommy but absolutely is in love with her father. Just the mention of Daddy sets her off in a tangent of , "Dada, Dada, Dada, Dada" until she finds him. Her world is complete when her brothers are with her, especially Joe. HOWEVER, she is a girl and is definately showing us that she is going to be a little on the emotional side. She is almost walking without any assistance...she is very cautious and is definatley not a risk taker in the motor department. She says, "Mama," "Dada," "Da (For dog)," "ma" for more, and signs please, help, out and more.

Joseph

Joe versus a fruit/cereal bar...this is what I clean up basically after each meal from him.

Sneaky, fast kid. I tried to get more shots of him crawling in and around the end table but he is so darn FAST!

Joe has been walking non-stop since he started. He likes to take laps around our main floor with toys in his had. He has started have some "lovely" tantrums and goes from 0-60 instantaneously. He loves books and dogs. He can say, "dog," "more," signs please, "dada" and has said "help" once.

JonathanHis pose when you say, "Say Cheese!"

He is just the funniest kids. He is talking in 5-7 word sentences (which the speech therapist in me is LOVING); is really into his independent play which gets interupted by his siblings to often; loves to color and play with playdough and has just started 'reading' books to himself and his brother and sister...very entertaining!

Joseph Walking

I finally did it! I got a video and downloaded it! This is of Joseph walking, "talking" and drinking his bottle. He's been walking for a couple weeks but I haven't had a chance to "catch" him.

We all have been sick again and hoping that we will get over this winter illness SOON... and hope that all of you stay well too!!!!

The Park in December?

Who would have thought we could go to the park at the end of December???

My mother made the hats for Caroline and Joseph! THanks Grammie!

Jonathan playing with some sort of acorn thing...

Just a side note. About 30 seconds after these pictures were taken, Joseph decided to crawl up the jungle gym and keep going HEAD FIRST down the slide laughing his belly off. That made his sister AND brother join in. At one point I had all three heading down the slides head first and me scrambling to catch them all...such a fun sight to have seen. There were three teenage boys playing basketball and I noticed at one pointed they had stopped and were staring at me...