What happened to the Bassetts?

In a nutshell:
The camera is down for the count.
The dryer situation: Dryer A died on us and makes a pathetic electrical buzz when we try to turn it on, no other response. Dryer B turns the drum but has no heat. Dryer C, which we were going to purchase, made no buzzing, turning, or heat at our house but works great at someone else's house. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Kailyn read 46 pages of "Reading with Dick and Jane" to me last night, without a single mistake, then another 15 pages from a different "Dick and Jane" book.
Jordan starts and continues conversations. She has started telling me about her days and the things she enjoyed. She has a new dress that a friend, Rachel, gave to her, which is absolutely adorable. Too bad the camera is down. She has worn it every day since she got it--4 days ago.
Caden pouted yesterday--his feelings were hurt when someone suggested he not chew on a rubber bouncy ball. It was cute, and the first time we remember seeing his feelings get hurt. We call him "echo" because he does a great job of echoing everything we say. His speech is improving tremendously. His prayers are especially cute. He is also getting really good at knowing his body parts, like chin, toes, fingers, as well as the usuals (ears, eyes, nose, etc).
More later.

Unusual

Saturday...what a day. So, we have been without a dryer for sometime cause ours broke down and we were waiting for one that someone was going to give to us. We finally worked it out to pick it up Friday. I was so excited that I had stopped doing laundry (I was sick of hanging things up to dry). We got the dryer home and.....it doesn't work (I had asked before picking up if it worked the person said it did, so not sure what happened). Can I tell you how bummed I was. I had waited all this time for a broken dryer and now have loads and loads of laundry that need to be done. So I decided to check out the local laundromat. I was a bit nervous about how the kids would behave but they did awesome. I think it was the novelty of it all.

When we arrived home we had no electricity. Which really stunk cause it was a hot day, thank goodness not as hot as the day before. There had been a really big storm that had gone through the night before and I think as they were repairing wires they accidently knocked out our power. By dinnertime we still didn't have power so the kids and I went and grabbed some $5 pizza and took it to the park to watch a baseball game and eat (Ken by the way was working a 30 hour shift). It really stunk having the power off cause we didn't have A/C or fans and I wasn't able to get a lot of things done that I had planned on. The power eventually came back on around 10:30pm (over 12 hours without power). By the way we were without power last Saturday too cause of a tree that fell on a powerline during a storm. I'm thankful though cause even though 12 hours felt like a long time in the heat, I know a lot of people didn't have power for days.

Caden helping at the laundromat.

Jordan

Kailyn

Caden wanted to paint with the girls. I don't know if you can tell but he has paint all over his face.

Jordan pulling Caden in the wagon.

This morning I went downstairs to find a chair knocked over and our garbage all over the floor (it normally is under our sink). There was a trail into the livingroom and out the back door. I think a raccoon got into our house. It's the only animal I can think of that could get it out from under our sink and would eat things like popcorn, watermelon, and hot chocolate powder (which is now ground into my livingroom carpet in 3 big stains). Ken was the last one to bed last night and didn't shut the back door thinking the cool air would be nice...not realizing that the screen had a big hole in it.

Caden checking out the mess.

Part of the trail leading out the back door.

Work and Play

Wow, what a week it has been! Ken has been off since Sunday (although he slept all day Sunday cause he worked the night before), which has made all of the kids insanely happy. The first day he was off he was sitting on the couch and all the kids just started crawling all over him, they were just so excited to see him. Kailyn has been telling everyone that daddy is going to be home and "doesn't have to work all day or all night."

With Ken home we have been cramming our days full of work and fun. We have been working on our bathrooms. We can now use the toilet in our downstairs bathroom, still no sink. We bought insulation and wallboard for the downstairs bathroom too, but are waiting to put it up (still working on the leak). We finally get the downstairs toilet usable just in time to make the upstairs one off limits. We are working on finishing up the walls. We finished removing the wallpaper, cleaned the walls, and put texture up on the walls. We are hoping to be able to paint today. We also bought wanscot for the wall, probably won't get time to put up this week.

'All work no play,' is not our motto so of course we have been having a lot of fun. We have been going swimming, going to different parks, having a couple of picnics, playing games, we went down to Findlay on Memorial Day to see Ken's aunt and uncle and just enjoying every moment together. Kailyn's prayer, "We thank Thee that we had so much fun today. Please bless that we can have lots of fun tomorrow too."

Good bye picnic Saturday morning (Ken was still working). We are going to miss all of our friends that are moving away.

Kailyn swinging with Ella (one of her friends that are moving).

Caden loves to go down slides.

Jordan (in the middle) playing with friends.

Kailyn and Jordan.

Waiting for the parade Monday morning. We got SO much candy it was crazy (of course it was all tootsie rolls, suckers, and bubble gum)

Caden fell asleep on the way home, wedged between Jordan and the back of the bike trailer.

Jordan ended up falling asleep and taking a really late nap one day. So that night she had a really hard time falling asleep. This is how we found her.

Fun at the park.

Our kids love to swing.

Click Clack Shoes

So do your kids have a favorite toy? One they want to take everywhere with them. One they are always playing with. Well, for Jordan that would be her "click clack" shoes. So named by her because of the loud noise they make when used on hard floors such as tile and wood. She is constantly trying to pass these as shoes to wear as we head out the door for some activity. Like one day she tried to put them on as we were on our way out the door. "No Jordan those shoes are not OK to wear in the library. You are going to have to put on some other shoes." Well, once at the library, just as we are about to head into story time I realize Jordan is not by the computers anymore. I quickly start looking in her favorite places and then remember discovering her "click clack"shoes hidden in the stroller (we had walked to the library). I quickly go to the stroller to find her tennis shoes sitting next to the stroller and her "click clack" shoes missing. I run down the rows of bookcases looking for her and am starting to get concerned when I see her walking toward story time totally oblivious to the world around her. She is totally focused on her shoes with a grin of complete joy upon her face. I reach her just in time for her to walk proudly into story time. Walking as if she were walking on air. She walked into that room with quite the strut.

But alas, all good things must end. Unfortunately, her shoes have bitten the dust. What new thing will she now claim as absolutely beautiful and want to take everywhere? Only time will tell.

What a Weekend

We had a very busy, very fun weekend. I am actually going to start Thursday afternoon. Ken was home so we decided to go on a bike ride. We rode to the Maumee Library (7 miles round trip). The weather was so beautiful we just couldn't be trapped inside.

Both girls fell asleep on the way home.

Friday, Kailyn had her preschool graduation. The graduation was very cute, little kids are always so fun to watch. There was a grandpa that sat behind us who laughed so hard he started crying. Listening to him laugh made me laugh even more. As a special treat we went to McDonald's for lunch with some friends. We never go out to eat, so the kids were really excited when they found out.

Jordan waiting for the graduation to begin

Kailyn is in the front row right.

Olivia, Ella, and Kailyn holding signs for the song "VIP in my family"

Kailyn of course was excited.

Trying to get a picture with Olivia, Ella and Kailyn

Apparantly, we are done with pictures. Jordan holding hands with her "best friend" Mimi.

Friday evening we went to a carnival at Kailyn's new school (where she will be going to Kindergarten, it is only a few blocks from our home). The kids had lots of fun!

Kailyn and Jordan on the swings This is the ride Jordan wanted to ride from the moment we got there. She rode alone once and again with Ken and Kailyn.

Saturday was very busy. It was one of those days that I felt like the energizer bunny. I had a lot of energy, or maybe adrenaline. I started the day by running a 5K at the Toledo Zoo's Dart Frog Dash. Ken dropped the kids off (and then he went home to sleep) after the 5K and then Kailyn and Jordan ran a 1K. They did really good. Kailyn held hands with her friend Ella and ran the whole way, other then when she tripped and fell. Jordan did a mix of running and walking, I was just happy she finished the race. Kailyn was so proud of herself. She told EVERYONE about how she ran in the Dart Frog Dash.

Kailyn holding her ribbon she got for finishing and Jordan holding the bag they got that was filled with free stuff.

We stayed at the Zoo and looked at the animals for a little bit then came home and I mowed the lawn and then biked over to the Maumee library for an event called Claire's Day. The kids had a lot of fun. They had crafts, story reading, live bands, and many other activities.

Listening to a story being read.

Jordan's hat made out of a large coffee filter.

Caden and Kailyn modeling their hats and potted plants.

Making their coffee filter hats.

Super Caden

Princess Jordan

Princess Kailyn

The girls were so excited when dad woke up after we got home, so they could show him all of their things from the day. It was a busy day, none stop, and I loved it!

His Life Flashed Before Him

So I'm thinking that Ken needs a career change...not only is he working hours and hours on end with very little pay but now this. (This was written by Ken for another blog.)

So, Steve (a friend of the family) and I have had a few shifts together in the ER this month--tonight was another. We were sitting there talking about my hyponatremic seizure pt when all of a sudden we hear, "GSW at the door--NOW!" There was a massive rush to the main entrance of the ER, where a car was waiting with a guy in the back seat. He had a bullet entrance wound in his anterior neck. As we all approached the car to help the guy out, out of nowhere, a second car whips around the corner and screeches to a halt right behind the first car. Out jump 5 very scary-looking guys. Steve backed up to where I was already standing (just inside the entrance to the ER), and we waited for the guns to be pulled and the shots to start out. Visions of the TV series "ER" came to mind as my life flashed before my eyes--no way this was going to turn out well. Luckily, they ended up being our guy's "brothers" (aka fellow gang members), there for moral support.
I ended up climbing into the back seat of the car to help carry the pt out and to help get him on a stretcher. Unfortunately, the pt was offering no help (all limbs completely lax) and complained of difficulty breathing (yes, he complained of paralysis and difficulty breathing before we started helping him out). C4 and C5 Fxs. Pretty sad life left for our guy.
Unfortunately, less than 2 minutes later we had another GSW arrive by ambulance and then about 5 minutes after that another GSW arrived by car. We had already had one. My shift was over, so I left right after number 4 got there. Who knows what else came in afterwards--maybe Steve got to see some more?

Happy Mother's Day

Here's to the mom that always believes in me, is always there for me and always knows just what to say. I love you mom!